CAROLINE  ATWATER,  MASON 


,•      i. 


••n 

-  -}    ^ 


THE    LITTLE    GREEN    GOD 


The 
JLiittle  \jreen 

BY 

CAROLINE  ATWATER    MASON 


FLEMING     H.     REVELL     COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  CHICAGO  TORONTO 


COPYRIGHT,    1902,   BY 
FLEMING    H.    REVELL    COMPANY 

Published  June,  1902 


Second  Edition 


And  one  shall  say  unto  him, 
"What  are  these  wounds  In  thine  hands?  " 
Then  he  shall  answer ',  "Those  with  which  1 
was  wounded  in  the  house  of  my  friends" 


CONTENTS 

•*•  PAGE 

A  STRANGER 5 

// 
The  ALEXANDERS'  GUEST  .  23 

III 
The  EIGHTH  AVATAR  .  .  .  37 

IV 
The  OCCULT 55 

V 
The  CYNIC  EXPLAINS  .  .  .  73 

VI 
A  GOOD  MAN'S  WRATH  .  .  83 

VII 
INTERRUPTIONS 95 

VIII 

The  BRITISH  LION    ..../// 

IX 

The  PASSING  OF  KRISHNA    .  127 


A    STRONGER 


A    STRANGER 

A  LARGE  clerical  gathering  which 
had  been  convened  for  several 
days  in  that  favorite  convention  city, 
Buffalo,  was  breaking  up.  The  broad 
stream  of  outgoing  clergy  and  laymen 
had  poured  through  the  wide-opened 
doors  of  the  Stone  Church  and  spent 
itself,  leaving  now  but  a  few  strag 
gling  individuals  to  depart  one  by 
one  or  two  by  two. 

In  the  luxuriously  equipped  ante 
chamber,  into  which  the  warm  noon 
light  struck  richly  through  amber-col 
ored  glass,  a  few  men  still  stood  in 
groups.  They  were  chatting  cheerfully 


8    The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

or  button-holing  one  another  with  ear 
nest  looks  and  eagerly  emphatic  utter 
ance,  as  they  rehearsed  the  rulings  of 
the  convention  and  prophesied  good  or 
ill,  each  according  to  his  turn  of  mind. 
The  greater  number  of  these  men  car 
ried  overcoats  and  travelling  cases,  and 
were  evidently  about  to  leave  the  city 
for  their  several  homes. 

Into  this  lobby,  from  an  inner  door, 
a  man  now  came  of  an  aspect  strikingly 
different  from  his  brethren.  He  was 
tall  and  lean,  with  a  gaunt,  sallow  face, 
a  pair  of  grizzled  side  whiskers  worn 
too  long,  and  a  suit  of  faded  black, 
also  worn  too  long.  It  was  difficult  to 
say  why,  but  the  man's  attire  conveyed 
the  effect  of  a  paucity  of  linen.  At  least 
no  superfluity  was  in  evidence,  while 
the  men  around  him  were  noticeable 
for  the  immaculate  quality  and  abound- 


9 


ing  quantity  visible.  There  were  other 
points  of  difference.  These  men  bore 
themselves  with  hearty  assurance  and 
confident  though  decent  hilarity  as  they 
met.  The  newcomer  looked  about  him 
with  a  vague  and  timid  smile,  which 
apparently  finding  no  point  d'appui 
seemed  to  fall  at  his  own  feet.  He  did 
not  carry  an  overcoat,  but  the  inevi 
table  bag  was  in  his  hand ;  it  was  not, 
however,  of  the  American,  up-to-date, 
sole-leather  variety — in  fact,  it  could 
not  strictly  be  called  a  bag.  It  was 
circular  in  form,  made  of  tin,  and 
painted  brown,  after  a  fashion  common 
to  the  English  travelling  public.  It 
might  have  been  in  commission  twenty 
years,  and  was  plainly  English  in  its 
origin.  On  it  was  painted  in  black 
letters,  Rev.  Titus  Fletcher,  Haidara- 
bad,  India. 


10  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

The  newcomer  placed  this  receptacle 
upon  a  chair,  and  rubbing  his  hands 
with  an  air  of  preparation  for  some 
thing  of  which  he  was  altogether  un 
certain,  glanced  from  group  to  group  of 
those  about  him  in  a  gentle  and  concili 
ating  manner.  His  presence,  however, 
did  not  seem  to  be  observed. 

Meanwhile,  in  the  church  within, 
where  the  convention  had  held  its 
meetings,  two  men,  the  last  to  leave, 
were  walking  slowly  down  the  aisle. 
The  taller  of  these  two,  whose  arm  was 
thrown  over  the  other's  shoulder  in 
affectionate  familiarity,  had  served  the 
convention  as  moderator.  He  looked 
born  to  moderate.  He  had  the  portly 
and  gracious  and  impressive  personal 
ity  which  belongs,  in  the  American 
imagination,  to  the  English  duke ;  a 
fair,  clean  skin,  well-cut  features,  and 


A   Sr RANGER  11 

smooth-shaven  face,  a  benignant  expres 
sion,  white,  well-kept  hands,  and  a 
frequent  smile,  which  was  commonly 
alluded  to  by  his  friends  as  "  in  itself 
a  benediction."  At  fifty  odd,  his  teeth, 
his  digestion,  his  self-confidence,  and 
his  orthodoxy  were  alike  sound.  This 
was  the  Rev.  George  Alexander,  D.D., 
the  popular  pastor  of  a  large  and 
wealthy  church  in  Cleveland.  His 
companion,  Irving  White,  a  well-known 
editor,  was  a  nervously  organized  man, 
famous  for  the  pungent  editorials 
which  made  his  paper  a  species  of 
denominational  lash. 

"The  best  thing  about  the  whole 
conference,  I  tell  you,  Alexander," 
White  was  saying  in  a  low  voice  suited 
to  the  place,  "was  the  way  you  ruled 
out  all  those  tramps  and  agents  and 
special  pleaders  who  usually  bore  us 


12  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

to  death.  They  are  the  bane  of  all 
our  public  meetings." 

"I  believe  we  did  succeed  pretty 
well  in  suppressing  them,"  said  the 
other,  complacently ;  "  I  was  sorry, 
though,"  he  added,  in  a  different  tone, 
"for  Fletcher.  Poor  old  Fletcher!" 
and  he  sighed  the  rather  comfortable 
sigh  which  a  man  sighs  over  his 
friend's  adversities. 

"Who's  Fletcher?" 

"  Why,  our  returned  missionary  just 
come  back  from  India,  you  know.  A 
good  deal  of  a  wreck,  I  fancy.  His 
wife  died  out  there.  Fearful  climate. 
He  was  a  classmate  of  mine  in  the  old 
days  at  Williams." 

"  Oh,  bless  me,  you  don't  mean  the 
bilious  brother  ? " 

"  Perhaps  that  is  your  description. 
An  excellent  man  ;  a  fine  scholar,  too, 


A   STRONGER  13 

he  was  always  rated,  and  he  has  been 
a  devoted  missionary." 

"  Oh  yes,  of  course ;  that's  all  under 
stood — they  all  are.  But  that  man  ! 
He  has  a  certain  pathos  in  his  eyes  to 
which  I  distinctly  object — that  look 
you  have  seen  in  the  eyes  of  a  dog 
whom  you  haven't  treated  well,  but 
who  persists  in  his  affection  for  you. 
I've  honestly  spent  half  my  time  these 
three  days  in  avoiding  the  appeal  in 
that  man's  eyes.  I  can't  stand  him." 

"  Well,  if  he  hadn't  got  off  in  such  a 
hurry  I  should  certainly  have  asked 
him  to  go  home  with  me  and  address 
our  people.  It  was  cruel  to  have  to 
sit  down  upon  him,  as  it  were,  here, — 
my  old  classmate,  you  know,  and  the 
least  I  could  do  would  be  to  take  him 
home  with  me.  I  fancy  he  came  to 
the  conference  hoping  to  make  engage- 


14  The  LirrLE  GREEN  GOD 

ments  to  speak  for  missions  around  in 
the  churches.  He  has  a  lot  of  curios, 
I  know,  with  him.  Poor  fellow !  and 
now  he  is  gone.  It's  a  shame.  Ah, 
White,  these  lost  opportunities  !  But 
I  suppose  we  are  judged  by  the  good 
we  mean  to  do." 

At  this  moment  they  had  reached  the 
church  door.  White  pushed  it  open 
and  they  entered  the  vestibule  together 
and  stood  face  to  face  with  the  man 
with  the  small  tin  trunk.  White 
noticed  with  a  sardonic  twitch  of  his 
mouth  the  first  instinctive  expression  of 
dismay  which  Dr.  Alexander  promptly 
covered  with  his  most  benedictory 
smile  as  he  hastened  forward  with  out 
stretched  hands. 

"Why,  Fletcher,  my  dear  fellow! 
Then  you  are  not  gone  yet?  Good 
enough,  good  enough !  I  feared  you 


A    STRANGER  15 

had  slipped  out  of  my  hands,  and  I 
have  been  so  busy  that  I  have  hardly 
had  a  chance  even  to  greet  you.  This 
is  surely  great  good  fortune.  How  are 
you?  I  have  a  hundred  questions  to 
ask  at  once." 

Titus  Fletcher  looked  into  his  old 
friend's  face,  his  own  sallow  visage 
illuminated  with  cordial  and  unaf 
fected  joy. 

"George,  I  tell  you  this  does  me 
good !  When  a  man  has  been  out  of 
the  country  twenty  years,  you  know, 
till  he  feels  more  like  a  heathen  than  a 
white  man,  and  hardly  dares  to  expect 
his  old  friends  even  will  remember  him, 
such  a  greeting  as  this  warms  the  very 
cockles  of  his  heart." 

Dr.  Alexander  beamed  more  and 
more  joyously  upon  his  old  friend, 
stimulated,  as  most  public  speakers  are, 


16  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

by  applause.  "  Now  what  is  to  hinder 
you  going  home  with  me  ?  What  are 
your  engagements  ?  I've  been  trying 
all  through  the  meetings  to  get  to  you 
and  claim  a  few  days,  but  you  saw  how 
it  was,  pinned  right  to  my  place  every 
minute.  I  suppose  you  have  most  of 
your  dates  filled;  but  now,  say,  really, 
why  can't  you  come  home  with  me  and 
stay  a  few  days  ? " 

"Why,  George,  I  don't  know,"  and 
the  other  laughed  diffidently.  "Let 
me  see,  this  is  Wednesday.  I  have,  it 
is  true,  a  little  interval  before  Satur 
day,  when  I  have  to  be  in  Chicago,  but 
I  don't  like  to  intrude  on  your  family 
without  warning.  Your  good  wife  may 
have  other  arrangements." 

o 

"Not  at  all,  not  at  all;  no  intrusion, 
my  dear  fellow!"  exclaimed  Alexander, 
registering  automatically  a  reflection  on 


A    Sr  RANGER  17 

Mrs.  Alexander's  cordial  dislike  of 
being  styled  Ms  "  good  wife " ;  "  we 
entertain  constantly  at  our  house,  and 
some  way,  we  get  a  good  many  dis 
tinguished  foreigners,"  and  he  laughed 
pleasantly.  "There  is  nothing  Mrs. 
Alexander  likes  better.  Oh,  yes,  we 
had  the  Honorable  Babble-Byrne  when 
he  was  in  this  country,  and  Dr.  Cayl- 
garde,  you  know,  he  put  up  with  us 
when  he  was  in  Cleveland.  Very 
pleasant,  meeting  these  men  on 
familiar  terms." 

Titus  Fletcher  protested  that  he  be 
longed  in  no  such  class,  but  his  old 
friend  overbore  his  diffidence  and  car 
ried  the  day. 

In  a  few  moments  they  started  to 
gether  for  the  station  to  take  the  next 
train  to  Cleveland,  Mr.  Fletcher  care 
fully  carrying  his  own  hand  luggage, 


18  rbe  LirTLE  GREEN  GOD 

which.  Dr.  Alexander  had  urged  him  to 
have  sent  forward  by  express. 

"  I  have  some  rather  valuable  speci 
mens  in  this  little  case,"  he  replied ; 
"  things  which  could  never  be  replaced 
in  this  country.  I  don't  like  to  trust 
them  out  of  my  own  hand,  not  even  in 
my  trunk,"  and  so  with  obvious  access 
to  his  "cheerful  faith  that  all  which  he 
beheld  was  full  of  blessings,"  Titus 
Fletcher  strode  along  beside  his  dis 
tinguished  friend  with  a  manner  quite 
youthful  and  debonair. 

It  had  been  speedily  arranged  be 
tween  them  that  the  missionary  should 
give  a  lecture  on  certain  phases  of  his 
life  in  India  at  Alexander's  church  on 
the  following  evening.  As  the  fast  ex 
press  train  which  they  were  about  to 
take  would  bring  them  into  Cleveland 
by  seven  o'clock,  in  time  to  be  present 


A    STRONGER  19 

at  the  mid-week  prayer-meeting,  it 
would  be  possible  to  make  suitable 
announcement  of  the  lecture  in  spite  of 
its  impromptu  character. 

"  Besides,"  remarked  Dr.  Alexander 
easily,  "  I  can  fix  it  all  right  any  way 
through  the  morning  papers  to-morrow. 
I  am  hand-in-glove  with  the  editors  of 
all  our  leading  dailies.  I  tell  you, 
Fletcher,  there's  little  that  cannot  be 
managed  in  this  country  nowadays, 
given  twenty-four  hours.  We  move  at 
a  somewhat  more  rapid  pace  than  in 
the  old  days  before  you  went  to  India." 

As  they  travelled  on  by  the  swift  ex 
press,  Titus  Fletcher  alluded  with  much 
feeling  to  a  letter  he  had  received  from 
his  friend  inclosing  a  personal  remit 
tance  of  twenty-five  dollars,  in  the  last 
famine  year. 

"  I  tell  you,  George,"  he  said,  shaking 


20  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

his  head  with  solemn  emphasis,  "it  hurt 
me  to  take  that  money.  I  should  have 
sent  it  back  if  I  could ;  but,  my  dear 
friend,  the  people  on  my  compound 
were  literally  starving,  and  rice  a  rupee 
a  sair,  but  I  know  that  noble  gift 
meant  real  sacrifice  to  you  and  yours. 
You  said  very  little,  my  dear  fellow, 
which  was  like  you,  but  I  could  read 
between  the  lines.  We  went  through 
our  early  struggles  together,  and  I  rec 
ognized  your  generous  heart,  and  knew 
you  had  not  changed  in  all  the  years 
which  had  come  between.  Words 
were  cold  to  express  my  gratitude," 
and  as  he  spoke  Titus  Fletcher's  eyes 
grew  dim. 

Dr.  Alexander  silenced  further  ex 
pression  with  large,  magnanimous  pro 
test,  a  gratifying  sense  glowing  in  his 
consciousness  that  there  had  been  sac- 


A    Sr RANGER  21 

rifice  in  the  case,  as  he  vaguely  recalled 
sending  that  twenty-five  dollars  to  India 
instead  of  treating  himself  to  a  coveted 
edition-de-luxe  of  the  B-ubaiyat.  To 
be  sure,  the  Rubaiyat  had  come  later. 
But  that  was  another  story. 

As  the  afternoon  passed,  Alexander 
experienced  a  vivid  perception  of  the 
almost  incredible  disparity  between 
Orientalism  as  represented  by  Titus 
Fletcher  and  by  the  Sage  of  Naishapur. 
For  himself,  he  had  reached  that  desir 
able  maturity  where  he  could  put  him 
self  at  the  view-point  of  either.  He 
could  sympathize  alike  with  the  man 
who  cried :  — 

' '  Would  you  be  happy  ?    Hearken  then  the  way : 
Heed  not  to-morrow,  heed  not  yesterday ; 
The  magic  words  of  life  are  Here  and  Now — 
O  fools !  that  after  some  to-morrow  stray, " 

and  with  the  homely,  careworn  man  by 


22  'The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

his  side,  whose  whole  theory  of  life 
was  to  bear  about  always  in  the  body 
the  dying  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  that  the 
life  also  of  Jesus  might  be  made 
manifest  in  him. 


THE  ALEXANDERS'   GUEST 


WHEN  the  gentlemen  had  been 
received  in  the  well-appointed 
brownstone  residence  of  the  Alexan 
ders  in  Cleveland  that  night,  two  pretty 
girls,  Evelyn  and  Clara,  fled  into  the 
library  to  pour  out  upon  their  mother 
a  torrent  of  laughing  questions. 

"  Why  does  papa's  old  classmate 
carry  a  cake  box  around  with  him? " 

"Is  it  his  luncheon  that  he  has  in 
it?  Oh,  dear,  why  should  he  need 
such  a  large  luncheon  ?  He  looks 
quite  lean." 

"  Oh,  I  know,  Evelyn ;  it  must  be  his 
portable  'bahth ' !  Don't  you  remember 


26  The  LirrLE  GREEN  GOD 

Mr.  Babble-Byrne  brought  his  with 
him?  It  was  larger,  though." 

"Don't  be  absurd,  girls,"  said  their 
mother;  "Mr.  Fletcher  has  spent  so 
much  of  his  life  among  the  English 
residents  in  India  that  he  has  natur 
ally  adopted  their  ways.  They  always 
travel  with  those  hideous  tin  satchels. 
I  noticed  them  often  when  I  was  abroad 
last  year.  But  I  can't  help  wondering 
how  long  Mr.  Fletcher's  visit  is  likely 
to  last.  It  has  come  so  very  unexpect 
edly  you  see." 

"Very,"  responded  Clara  emphati 
cally. 

"Haven't  you  had  a  chance  to  ask 
papa  about  it  ? "  inquired  Evelyn. 

"No,  we  have  not  had  a  moment 
alone  yet,  and,  of  course,  he  will  have 
to  hurry  right  from  dinner  to  the 
church." 


The  ALEXANDERS'  GUEST  27 

"  But  what  great  difference  does  it 
make,  anyway,  mamma  ? "  asked  Evelyn. 

"  Why,  you  see,  I  am  thinking  about 
the  dinner  party  on  Friday  evening," 
returned  her  mother  musingly.  "  It  is 
not  exactly  the  time  one  would  have 
chosen,"  and  she  hesitated,  while  Clara 
exclaimed : 

"  Oh  dear  me,  how  awkward !  But 
this  is  only  Wednesday.  Do  you  be 
lieve  he  will  stay  all  that  time  ?  " 

"But,  mamma/'  interposed  Evelyn, 
"  I  wouldn't  mind.  Since  we  are  all 
so  disappointed  about  Mr.  West's  not 
coming,  why  not  look  upon  Mr.  Fletcher 
as  sent  to  fill  his  vacant  place  ?  You 
haven't  invited  any  one  else  yet,  you 
know.  One  distinguished  foreigner 
is  as  good  as  another,  and  I  dare  say 
better  ! "  and  she  laughed  lightly. 

"  Oh,    Evelyn,"   said   Clara,  with   a 


28  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

little  grimace  of  displeasure,  "  how 
ridiculous !  As  if  this  poor  old  mis 
sionary  could  take  the  place  of  such  a 
man  as  James  Watson  West !  I  never 
was  so  disappointed  in  my  life.  Here 
I  have  actually  waded  through  every 
one  of  those  long  novels  of  his  so  as  to 
be  up  to  talking  with  him,  and  now 
it's  all  for  nothing ! " 

"  Poor  baby ! "  mocked  Evelyn ;  "  too 
bad  after  such  a  feat  as  that.  But  how 
do  you  know  but  Mr.  Fletcher  may 
have  written  books,  too  ? " 

"  All  missionaries  write  dictionaries, 
I  believe,"  said  her  mother,  dropping 
her  voice  on  the  last  words  and  rising 
to  receive  their  guest,  who  just  then 
presented  himself  in  the  doorway,  fol 
lowed  by  Dr.  Alexander,  who  was 
plainly  in  a  hurry  to  proceed  to  the 
dining-room. 


The  ALEXANDERS'   GUEST  29 

The  dinner  table,  set  out  with  a 
brilliant  array  of  silver  and  cut  glass, 
dazzled  the  stranger.  He  took  up  and 
laid  down  various  implements  in  ob 
vious  embarrassment  during  the  first 
few  minutes.  Then,  with  his  gentle 
smile,  he  said : 

"  I  shall  have  to  confess,  George,  that 
you  have  a  sort  of  Rip  Van  Winkle  on 
your  hands ;  for  you  know  I  have 
been  literally  buried  in  the  heart  of 
India.  Twenty-five  years  have  changed 
things  mightily  in  this  country.  While 
I  have  been  reverting  to  primitive  sim 
plicity,  you  fellows  on  this  side  have 
been  civilizing  at  a  terrible  rate.  It  is 
not  that  you  have  'a,  several  sin  for 
every  sense,'  as  Vaughan  puts  it,  but  you 
really  do  have  a  several  tool  for  every 
form  of  food,  and  a  man  who  is  accus 
tomed  to  one  tool  and  one  form  of  food 


30  rbe  LirrLE  GREEN  GOD 

much  of  the  time  may  as  well  plead  igno 
rance.  What,  for  instance,  is  this  little 
trident  designed  for?"  and  he  held  up 
an  oyster-fork,  with  a  gently  playful 
smile  at  the  Alexander  girls,  which 
was  not  returned. 

The  Doctor  worked  out  of  the  situa 
tion  cleverly,  and  the  dinner  proceeded 
with  a  fair  degree  of  comfort,  until 
Clara  Alexander  brought  on  another 
strain  by  exclaiming: 

"O  papa,  it's  such  a  shame  you 
weren't  here  for  the  play  last  night. 
It  was  the  sweetest  thing  we  have  ever 
given.  Every  one  was  delighted.  You 
ought  to  have  seen  it,  Mr.  Fletcher; 
'  Thrice  Kissed,'  a  little  comedy  we 
gave  in  the  parish  house  last  night 
for  the  benefit  of  foreign  missions, 
you  know." 

"  And  just  think,  papa,"  added  Eve- 


The  ALEXANDERS'  GUEST  31 

lyn,  "  we  cleared  three  hundred  dollars, 
and  it  was  such  fun  ! " 

Mrs.  Alexander,  who  was  a  hand 
some  blonde  woman,  with  a  little  for 
tune  in  her  own  right,  and  who  ap 
peared  as  young  as  her  daughters, 
smiled  slightly  at  her  husband's  evi 
dent  annoyance,  while  Mr.  Fletcher 
looked  puzzled,  but  asked  no  further 
questions,  not  having  scored  a  success 
in  that  line  thus  far. 

"  A  very  simple  little  entertainment, 
Fletcher,"  said  his  host,  feeling  un 
easily  impelled  to  explain.  "Our  young 
people  work  well  for  missions.  Oh, 
yes,  they  turn  over  as  much  as  five 
hundred  dollars  in  the  course  of  a  year 
to  foreign  missions  often.  Their  methods 
are  all  educative,  you  know,  simply  edu 
cative.  Ours  is  a  thoroughly  mission 
ary  church,"  and  Dr.  Alexander  smiled 


32  The  LirrLE  GREEN  GOD 

upon  his  guest  in  a  manner  which  dis 
pelled  all  remaining  cloud  and  un 
certainty  regarding  the  missionary  and 
educative  tendencies  of  the  little  com 
edy  of  "Thrice  Kissed." 

Dinner  over,  the  gentlemen  hastened 
to  the  evening  service,  while  three 
thrice-dejected  women  met  in  their 
second-story  parlor,  exchanged  confi 
dence,  and  sought  mutual  consolation. 

"  Poor  papa ! "  sighed  Mrs.  Alex 
ander;  "such  a  singular  classmate." 

"  I  fear  that  Ancient  Clergyman! 
I  fear  his  skinny  hand !  " 

drolled  Evelyn, 

"  And  he  is  long  and  lank  and  brown 
As  is  the  ribb'd  sea-sand." 

"His  skinny  hand  wouldn't  be  so 
bad  if  he  didn't  wear  such  weird  little 
cuffs,"  responded  Clara.  "  Why  doesn't 


The  ALEXANDERS'   GUEST  S3 

he  wear  the  big,  shiny  kind  that  other 
gentlemen  do  ? " 

"Oh,  I  imagine,"  said  her  mother 
wearily,  "  he  has  given  up  all  the  re 
finements  and  comforts  of  life  as  a 
sacrifice  to  the  heathen ! " 

Evelyn  looked  straight  into  her 
mother's  face  for  a  moment,  and  then 
said  slowly,  with  a  little  shiver : 

"I  believe  he  has,  mamma,  really 
and  truly.  Doesn't  it  make  you  feel 
queer  to  see  any  one  who  really  means 
religion  ? — means  it  as  they  did  in  the 
New  Testament  ? " 

"  It  seems  rather  bad  form,  that's  all, 
under  our  American  twentieth-century 
conditions,"  suggested  Clara.  "  I  must 
say  I'm  glad  papa  has  never  been  taken 
that  way." 

Mrs.  Alexander  looked  at  her  daugh 
ter  with  a  curious  inscrutable  gaze. 


34  rbe  LirrLE  GREEN  GOD 

Who  knew  better  than  she,  when  and 
how  and  why  in  the  years  that  were 
past  George  Alexander  had  uncon 
sciously  ceased  to  "  mean  religion  "  ? 

"  It  is  the  sincerity,  I  suppose/'  pur 
sued  Evelyn,  musingly,  "which  gives 
him  that  stateliness.  I  can't  see  any 
other  way  to  explain  how  a  man  so 
antiquated  and  shabby  can  have  such  a 
fine  manner,  such  impressive  courtesy." 

"I  am  sure  I  am  very  glad  if  Evelyn 
is  impressed,"  returned  Mrs.  Alexan 
der,  with  a  touch  of  sharpness.  "  It  is 
certainly  wise  to  make  the  best  of  the 
situation,  for  you  saw  from  what  was 
said  that  Mr.  Fletcher  is  to  remain 
until  that  ten  o'clock  Chicago  train 
Friday  night.  The  dinner  party,  you 
see,  is  effectually  covered,"  she  added, 
with  a  certain  accent  of  chilly  sig 
nificance  on  the  last  word. 


The  ALEXANDERS'  GUEST  35 

Evelyn  and  Clara  faced  her  with 
undisguised  anxiety. 

"A  man  who  does  not  even  know 
the  use  of  an  oyster-fork  will  be 
a  little  difficult,"  murmured  Evelyn 
thoughtfully. 

"What  will  the  Raymonds  think!" 
cried  Clara,  interrupting  her  sister, 
"  oh,  and  the  Marshalls  !  Such  very, 
very  unusual  old  classmates  as  papa 
has " 

"But  listen,  Clara,"  said  Evelyn  with 
utmost  gravity,  "  listen,  mamma  dear ; 
t-his  is  only  Wednesday.  Mr.  Fletcher 
is  a  clever  man,  and  adapts  himself 
rather  quickly  to  civilization.  I  could 
see  that  at  once.  He  took  quite  lov 
ingly  even  to  the  oyster-fork  after  the 
first.  Now  we  will  civilize  him  just  as 
hard  as  we  can  from  this  time  on,  and 
by  Friday  night  you  see  if  he  won't  be 


36  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

able  to  keep  up  with  the  best  of  them. 
He  has  a  beautiful  manner  of  his  own 
to  build  upon,  which  is  everything." 

"  I  can  never  tell,  Evelyn,"  cried 
Clara  irritably,  "whether  you  are  in 
earnest  or  not.  But  I  am  sure  if  any 
thing  could  reconcile  us  to  not  having 
Mr.  West  to  dinner  it  would  be " 

"Hush,  Clara,"  said  Mrs.  Alexander. 
"  Mr.  Fletcher  is  our  guest." 


THE    EIGHTH  AVATAR 


Ill 

THE   EIGHTH   AVATAR 

THE  following  morning,  at  the  re 
quest  of  his  host,  Titus  Fletcher 
brought  down  to  the  library  a  number 
of  small  idols  and  other  curiosities 
which  he  carried  with  him  to  use  in 
his  lectures.  Dr.  Alexander  had  ex 
plained  to  him  that  greatly  to  their 
regret  Mrs.  Alexander  aijd  the  girls 
had  an  engagement  that  evening  which 
would  prevent  their  being  present  at 
the  missionary  lecture.  It  was  most 
unfortunate,  but  they  could  not  absent 
themselves  from  the  appointed  social 
gathering  at  the  house  of  a  friend 


40  rbe  LirrLE  GREEN  GOD 

without  causing  serious  disappoint 
ment  and  inconvenience. 

The  missionary  had  waved  away  the 
explanation  as  wholly  superfluous,  and 
with  unassuming  and  obliging  good 
temper  produced  his  treasures.  The 
keen  and  humorous  vivacity  with  which 
he  proceeded  to  describe  them  sur 
prised  and  fairly  won  the  little  group 
around  him. 

"This,"  explained  Titus  Fletcher, 
holding  up  a  small,  green  jade  image 
of  Krishna,  "is  literally  the  dearest 
idol  I  have  known.  I  paid  twenty 
rupees  for  him.  Isn't  he  a  beauty? 
You  would  think  he  ought  to  be  if  you 
had  seen  him  worshipped  by  thousands 
of  people,  as  I  have." 

"Oh,  won't  you  set  him  on  the 
mantelpiece,  Mr.  Fletcher  ? "  cried  Clara 
Alexander,  with  pretty  eagerness.  "I 


The    EIGHTH   AVATAR    41 

can't  think  which  he  is,"  she  added, 
eying  the  diabolical  figure  with  some 
perplexity. 

"He  is  Krishna,"  replied  Titus 
Fletcher;  "one  of  the  most  popular 
avatars  of  Vishnu." 

" Oh,  of  course,"  cried  Evelyn ;  "the 
eighth,  was  he  not  ?  " 

"  Isn't  he  simply  great,  Evelyn  ? " 
exclaimed  Clara.  "  Wouldn't  Miss  Syl 
vester  rave  over  his  magnificent  ugli 
ness  !  Is  that  the  battle-axe  in  his  hand 
that  he  killed  the  monkeys  with  ? " 

"  Clara  !  How  can  you  mix  things 
up  so?"  cried  Evelyn.  "It's  Rama, 
don't  you  remember,  who  has  the  battle- 
axe,  who  was  the  slayer  of  monkeys  ? 
Krishna's  weapon  was  the  plough,  wasn't 
it,  Mr.  Fletcher  ? "  and  with  a  charming 
assumption  of  wisdom  she  turned  to 
her  father's  old  friend. 


42  The  LirrLE  GREEN  GOD 

"  Yes ;  Miss  Evelyn  is  right,"  he  re 
plied,  smiling  in  no  small  surprise  at 
the  detailed  information  of  these  gay 
girls  on  the  Hindu  heroes,  and  wonder 
ing  uneasily  if  they  knew  more  than 
was  desirable  of  Krishna's  exploits. 
"  Krishna  calls  himself  the  father  of 
the  universe,"  he  added,  "  as  you  have 
possibly  heard,  and  also  the  mother.  He 
was  a  convivial  old  person — the  worst 
rogue,  in  fact,  in  the  Hindu  gallery." 

"But  you  know,  Mr.  Fletcher,"  said 
Evelyn,  with  a  cold  little  smile  of  re 
proof  of  such  flippancy,  "  we  have 
learned  in  the  series  of  Lenten  Lectures 
we  are  attending  this  season,  how  be 
neath  all  these  symbolic  forms  and  the 
popular  parables  which  the  ignorant 
accept,  perhaps  literally,  there  is  the 
purest  and  most  elevated  monotheism." 

"  Oh,  it  is  simply  beautiful !    If  only 


The    EIGHTH   AVATAR    43 

you  could  have  heard  our  Swami  before 
he  went !  "  murmured  Clara  Alexander 
ardently. 

"What  is  simply  beautiful,  my  dear 
young  lady  ? "  began  Titus  Fletcher,  a 
plait  of  perplexity  appearing  between 
his  eyebrows.  Krishna  he  knew,  and 
Swamis  many,  alas,  also  ;  but  what  had 
they  to  do  with  Lenten  Lectures  ?  with 
meditation  on  the  Cross  and  Passion  of 
the  world's  Redeemer  ? 

Seeing  the  conversation  steering 
straight  upon  the  shoals,  and  ready  to 
bite  his  tongue  with  vexation  that  he 
had  not  warned  the  girls  to  keep  still 
about  their  ridiculous  Hindu  meta 
physics,  Dr.  Alexander  swiftly  inter 
posed  with  the  question  :- 

"  By  the  way,  Fletcher,  I  have  been 
meaning  to  ask  you  so  many  times 
about  your  daughter — let  me  see,  have 


you  more  thaii  the  one  ?  I  am  ashamed 
to  have  forgotten." 

"  Only  one,  now,"  replied  Titus 
Fletcher,  an  irrepressible  quiver  of  pain 
crossing  his  face.  "  Three  lie  in  small 
graves  in  the  mission  yard  in  Haidara- 
bad."  Of  another  grave  beside  the 
three  he  did  not  trust  himself  to  speak. 
"  Gertrude  alone  is  left  to  me,"  he  added, 
clearing  his  throat,  and  then  with  a 
brave  smile — "and  I  have  only  seen 
her  once — that  was  three  months  ago 
—since  she  was  a  little  child.  " 

"  She  has  been  educated  in  this  coun 
try,  then  ? "  inquired  Mrs.  Alexander 
with  cold  but  courteous  interest. 

"Yes,  ma'am,"  replied  Fletcher,  una 
ware  that  this  antiquated  form  of  ad 
dress  gave  his  hostess  a  peculiar  sense 
of  irritation. 

"Pardon  me,  Mr.  Fletcher,"  she  said, 


The    EIGHTH   AVATAR    45 

and  the  tenderness  which  had  softened 
her  face  as  she  had  listened  to  his  simple 
allusion  to  Hs  loss  faded  from  his  sight. 
"  I  can  never  quite  understand  how  it 
is  that  our  missionaries  bring  themselves 
to  these  cruel  separations  from  their 
children.  It  is  unnatural.  I  could  not 
do  it — it  would  be  simply  impossible ; 
I  suppose  I  am  not  made  of  the  true 
heroic  stuff." 

"  Perhaps,  dear  lady,  if  you  had  once 
been  in  India,  if  only  for  a  little  while," 
said  Titus  Fletcher  quietly,  but  with  a 
stern  undercurrent  of  feeling  which  gave 
Evelyn  Alexander  the  same  shiver  she 
had  experienced  once  before ;  "  if  you 
had  been  placed  under  the  conditions 
which  surround  our  families — condi 
tions  of  which  I  cannot  speak  in  this 
presence — you  would  understand,  would 
even  sympathize." 


46  We  LirrLE  GREEN  GOD 

"  Yes,"  lie  said,  rising  and  forcibly 
striking  a  lighter  and  less  strenuous 
note,  "Messrs.  Krishna,  Siva,  and  com 
pany  make  certain  of  us  a  good  deal  of 
trouble  first  and  last;  taking  us  away 
from  the  pleasures  of  home,  to  begin 
with,  and  taking  the  pleasure  of  home 
(for  even  missionaries  count  their  chil 
dren  such)  away  from  us  to  end  with. 
A  bad  lot,  my  dear  Mrs.  Alexander,  a 
bad  lot !  Let  us  get  them  out  of  sight, 
since,  thank  the  Lord,  here  we  can ! " 
and  Titus  Fletcher,  preparing  to  put 
away  his  curios,  lighted  first,  with  his 
long,  lean  fingers,  on  the  green  jade 
linage  of  Krishna. 

O 

"Oh,  please,  Mr.  Fletcher,"  cried 
Clara  Alexander  coaxingly,  "would 
you  be  willing  to  leave  that  figure  there 
on  the  mantel  for  to-day  ?  I  am  simply 
wild  to  show  him  to  some  of  the  girls  ; 


The    EIGHTH    AVATAR    47 

and  I  rather  expect  Miss  Sylvester,  the 
lady  who  lectures  to  us,  don't  you  know, 
on  Hinduism,  to  call  this  afternoon. 
She  would  be  so  interested,  and  the 
girls  would  give  anything  to  see  a 
real  live  Krishna — I  mean  one  which 
had  really  served  the  people  them 
selves  as  an  aid  to  worship." 

Titus  Fletcher  bowed.  It  was  a  stiff, 
old-fashioned  bow,  and  his  dark  face 
wore  a  look  of  infinite  perplexity,  but 
there  was  something  courtly  and  fine 
about  him,  nevertheless,  as  he  said 
with  utmost  gentleness : 

"  I  shall  be  delighted  if  I  can  in  any 
way  serve  you  or  your  friends,  Miss 
Clara,"  and  so  retreated  to  his  room 
alone.  To  what  end  he  was  to  serve 
the  daughter  of  his  old  comrade  was 
plainly  not  as  yet  clear  to  him. 

That  evening,  as   might   have  been 


48  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

foreseen,  when  Titus  Fletcher  began  to 
set  forth  and  dispose  his  illustrative 
specimens  of  the  Hindu  economy  in  the 
lecture  room  of  Dr.  Alexander's  church 
just  before  the  hour  of  meeting,  he  dis 
covered  that  the  Krishna  had  been  for 
gotten  and  left  behind.  Hastening 
back  to  the  house,  which  was  close  at 
hand,  he  started  to  enter  the  library, 
but  drew  back  on  the  threshold  in  sur 
prise  and  confusion.  Three  beautiful 
creatures,  with  naked  shoulders  and 
arms,  dazzling  ornaments  and  billowing 
draperies,  filled  all  the  space  before 
him.  Recognizing  his  hostess  and  her 
daughters,  and  feeling  himself  an  un 
timely  intruder  upon  this  unexpectedly 
brilliant  scene,  Titus  Fletcher  retreated 
into  the  hall,  and,  standing  with  averted 
head,  murmured :  "  Pardon  me,  I  beg 
of  you  1  The  Krishna,  if  it  is  not  too 


much  trouble.  You  will  find  it  on  the 
mantelpiece." 

An  instant  later  there  was  a  rustle 
of  much  silk,  and  some  one  stood  before 
him — some  one  by  no  means  abashed — 
who  held  out  the  imperturbable 
Krishna  with  a  cheerful  word  of  re 
gret  for  his  trouble.  It  was  Mrs. 
Alexander,  and  the  missionary  from 
Haidarabad,  as  he  received  the  image 
from  her  hands,  blushed  darkly 
through  the  sallowness  of  his  sunken 
cheeks,  and  made  haste  to  return  to  the 
church. 

He  did  not  know  it,  but  that  blush 
was  never  forgiven. 

The  lecture  that  evening  placed 
Titus  Fletcher  at  a  slightly  new  angle 
to  Dr.  Alexander.  He  wondered  un 
easily  and  increasingly  as  he  listened 
to  his  unpretentious  friend,  whether, 


50  The  LirrLE  GREEN  GOD 

after  all,  he  had  exactly  covered  him 
self  with  glory  in  ruling  him  out  from 
addressing  the  Buffalo  Convention. 

This  was  not  because  the  missionary 
developed  any  extraordinary  gifts  of 
eloquence  or  oratory,  or  even  that  he 
proved  himself  possessed  of  that  quality 
of  "  magnetism  "  supposed  to  be  indis 
pensable  for  success  with  American 
audiences.  Neither  did  Titus  Fletcher 
seek  to  work  upon  the  emotions  of  the 
company,  to  "wallow  in  the  pathetic," 
as  Stevenson  pungently  puts  it.  He 
had,  it  was  true,  a  singularly  quiet 
fashion  of  speech  and  a  certain  uncon 
scious  scholarly  quaintness  of  phrasing, 
which  carried  with  them  an  indefinable 
charm.  What  moved  George  Alexan 
der,  however,  and  perhaps  moved  his 
people  yet  more,  was  the  obvious,  ir 
resistible  fact  that  he  had  a  message — 


EIGHTH   AVATAR    51 

a  message  which  absorbed  the  man  him 
self  so  completely  that  all  question  and 
cavil  regarding  his  peculiarities  of  per 
son,  of  dress,  or  of  manner  suddenly 
became  utterly  irrelevant.  Those  who 
listened  realized  with  quickening  pulses 
that  this  quiet,  wayworn  man,  with  his 
sorrowful  eyes  and  his  gentle  smile,  was 
one  who  in  very  truth,  not  merely  in 
theory,  counted  all  things  but  loss  for 
the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of 
Christ  Jesus. 

Not  all,  to  be  sure,  felt  this  in  equal 
measure. 

At  the  close  of  the  address  the  crowd, 
as  usual,  gathered  around  the  curios, 
since  it  is  the  symbol  which  always 
makes  quickest  appeal,  while  about  the 
missionary  himself  was  grouped  a 
smaller  number.  These  persons,  how 
ever,  as  the  pastor  quickly  observed, 


52  rbe  LirrLE  GREEN  GOD 

were  the  men  and  women  of  finest 
spirit  in  his  flock.  He  noted,  further, 
that  on  all  their  faces  was  the  touch  of 
deepest  reverence  and  that  in  many 
eyes  were  tears. 

Alexander  was  pleased  at  the  im 
pression  his  old  friend  had  made ;  proud 
of  the  "  success "  of  the  impromptu 
meeting.  The  attendance  had  been  grat 
ifying,  the  lecture  of  a  high  character, 
whether  manner  or  matter  were  re 
garded.  He  liked  to  have  things  in  his 
church  "succeed."  He  liked  to  see 
Fletcher  appreciated  and  all  that. 
Nevertheless,  there  was  a  faint  stirring 
at  his  heart  which  he  could  not  himself 
have  defined,  as  he  read  the  tokens  of  a 
new  and  peculiar  experience  on  the 
faces  of  his  parishioners. 

"I  don't  quite  understand  what  moves 
them  so,"  he  was  thinking  as  he  stood  a 


The    EIGHTH   AVATAR    53 

little  behind  the  missionary,  looking  on. 
"  If  he  had  told  pathetic  stories  or  ap 
pealed  to  their  emotions—  Just  then 
he  was  interrupted. 

"  I  want  to  thank  you,  Dr.  Alexander, 
for  giving  us  this  chance  to  hear  Mr. 
Fletcher."  It  was  a  beautiful,  matronly 
woman  who  spoke,  turning  from  the 
group  and  extending  her  hand  to  him. 
She  was  the  wife  of  one  of  his  leading 
men,  herself  a  person  of  great  influence. 

Alexander  smiled  his  kindliest,  most 
generous  smile. 

"  Why,  you  know,"  he  responded,  "  I 
simply  captured  him  there  at  Buffalo. 
I  was  bound  my  people  should  hear 
him." 

"  He  has  done  to-night  the  greatest 
thing  for  some  of  us  which  it  seems  to 
me  a  man  could  do,"  replied  the  lady 
gravely.  "  He  has  made  the  teachings 


54  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

of  Christ  credible  as  a  working  force  in 
the  world." 

"  And  you  had  fancied  them  incredi 
ble?"  cried  Alexander  quickly. 

"  Almost." 


OCCULT 


IV 
THE    OCCULT 


Eternal  Parent,  wrapped  in 
her  ever-invisible  robes,  had  slum 
bered  once  again  for  seven  Eternities" 

("  Tolerably  long  nap,"  a  Cynic  on 
the  outskirts  of  the  audience  com 
mented  under  his  breath.) 

"  Time  was  not,  for  it  lay  asleep  in 
the  infinite  bosom  of  duration. 

"  The  seven  Sublime  Lords  and  the 

seven  Truths  had  ceased  to  be,  and  the 

Universe  was  immersed  in  Paranish- 

panna  to  be  ovtbreathed  by  that  which 

is  and  yet  is  not. 

(A  plainly  dressed  and  plainly  un- 


58  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 


enlightened  woman,  who  had  listened 
thus  far  in  pathetic  bewilderment, 
brightened  up  a  bit  at  this,  and  whis 
pered  to  the  friend  who  had  brought 
her,  "  Well,  you  can  see  she  believes 
in  immersion,  anyhow!  I  like  that"} 

"  Which  is  and  yet  is  not"  re-affirmed 
the  speaker,  over-riding  the  whisper 
with  some  severity. 

"NAUGHT  WAS!" 

(The  awe-struck  silence  which  greeted 
this  colossal  truth  was  broken  by  an 
inarticulate  murmur.  Some  one  whis 
pered  to  some  one  else  that  the  Cynic 
had  used  the  objectionable  term,  "  Tom- 
myrot,"  but  this  could  not  be  con 
firmed.) 

"  The  last  vibration  of  the  seventh 
Eternity  thrilled  through  Infinitude  and 


OCCULT  59 


forth  issued  the  Secret  of  Secrets,  the  roord 
of  glory,  the  mystic 

«OM!" 

The  priceless  privilege  of  listening 
to  this  bathos  had  been  secured  to 
Titus  Fletcher  by  the  payment  of  one 
dollar  at  the  door  to  an  elegant  female, 
who  had  received  the  humble  offering 
with  negligent  condescension,  as  show 
ing  a  marked  inferiority  in  the  offerer 
to  the  holders  of  course  tickets.  Never 
theless,  she  had,  without  further  initia 
tion  and  ceremony,  indicated  that  it 
was  his,  Titus  Fletcher's,  to  tread  that 
mystic  circle  where  occult  truth  was 
being  administered  to  the  elect. 

It  was  the  day  following  his  mission 
ary  address  at  Dr.  Alexander's  church. 
He  had  spent  the  early  afternoon  in  a 


60  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

downtown  reading-room,  and,  walking 
home  to  save  car  fare,  lie  had  chanced 
to  note  in  passing,  at  the  entrance 
of  a  handsome  building  given  over  to 
studios,  club  rooms,  and  the  like,  a 
dignified,  smallish  placard  bearing  this 
inscription : 

"  Miss  Sylvester's  Friday  Afternoon 
Lenten  Lectures  on  l  The  Message  of 
the  Orient  to  the  Occident.' ' 

"Interpretation  of  the  Metaphysical 
Universe  by  Hinduism." 

"  Miss  Sylvester  ! " 

Surely  this  was  the  name  mentioned 
twice  or  thrice  by  the  daughters  of  his 
host  as  their  teacher  and  guide.  The 
lectures  were  evidently  not  private. 
Why  not  enter  and  listen  to  the  mes 
sage  of  the  Orient  ?  The  impulse  be 
came  irresistible,  so  in  he  went  by  the 
mystic  mediation  of  that  dollar  which 


The    OCCULT  61 

he  could  so  ill  afford  to  spare,  but 
which  the  disparaging  glance  of  the 
door  lady  had  said  plainly  was  small 
compensation  indeed  for  the  privilege 
now  his. 

Dropping  modestly  into  the  first  va 
cant  camp-chair,  and  bending  his  long, 
thin  legs  at  the  acute  angle  required  by 
that  harassing  piece  of  furniture,  Titus 
Fletcher  found  himself  in  a  large, 
parlor-like  apartment,  handsomely  ap 
pointed,  and  well  filled  with  fashionably 
dressed  women.  A  narrow  fringe  of 
men  bordered  the  outskirts  of  the  com 
pany,  among  whom  was  the  Cynic,  who 
appeared  to  have  come  to  scoff,  and 
not,  thus  far,  remained  to  pray. 

On  a  richly  carpeted  dais,  encircled 
with  spear-leaved  palms,  stood  the 
speaker,  wiio  had  but  just  taken  up  her 
parable  as  he  entered, — a  woman  of 


62  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

lithe,  graceful  figure,  with  a  certain  air 
of  distinction,  an  aquiline  nose,  shifting 
glance,  and  a  thin,  crafty  mouth.  She 
spoke  in  a  well-modulated  voice,  and 
with  a  distinct  and  fairly  successful 
effort  after  impressiveness. 

With  the  awful  syllable,  "  Om,"  Titus 
Fletcher,  feeling  that  a  climax  had  been 
reached  which  demanded  a  brief  inter 
val  of  relaxation,  glanced  about  the 
company  and  was  able  soon  to  discern 
the  three  Alexander  ladies,  in  goodly 
apparel,  drinking  in  the  occult  thirstily. 
They  had  not  been  detained  from  this 
event  as  they  had  from  his  lecture  of  the 
evening  before,  by  a  previous  engage 
ment — which  was  perfectly  natural,  the 
good  man  reflected  without  bitterness, 
and  proceeded  to  recognize  here  and 
there  a  face  which  had  been  in  the 
company  gathered  at  Dr.  Alexander's 


OCCULT:          es 


churcli.  These  ladies,  as  all  others  pres 
ent  (save  the  Cynic),  appeared  to 
have  their  souls  drawn  up  to  the  very 
surface,  shining  out  through  yearning 
eyes,  breathing  on  delicately  parted 
lips  and  slightly  heaving  bosoms. 

"  I  am  He  !  "  the  words  were  uttered 
in  a  thrilling  whisper  as  of  deepest  awe. 
"Is  it  not  well  named  the  word  of 
glory,  this  word  Om?  And  it  is  for 
every  soul  in  this  presence  to  realize 
this  if  you  will  but  earnestly  master  the 
essentials  of  Yoga;  if  you  will  but 
exalt  the  mind  above  consciousness  and 
sub-consciousness  to  the  super-conscious 
state  known  in  our  philosophy  as  So 
mali,  a  state  which  is  reached  when  we 
bring  the  vibrations  of  our  souls  into 
perfect  harmony  with  the  vibrations  of 
the  cosmic  soul. 

"  Jesus  was  no   doubt  born,  as  our 


64  The  LirrLE  GREEN  GOD 

revered  Swami  so  often  told  you,  with 
all  the  capacities  and  qualities  of  the 
perfect  Yogi,  and  either  by  accident  or 
the  constant  repetition  of  the  word  Om 
and  the  practice  of  other  methods 
which  we  are  about  to  consider,  he 
learned  how  to  realize  the  God  within 
himself,  and  could  with  perfect  truth 
declare,  '  I  and  the  Father  are  one ! ' 
To  the  Hindu  such  an  utterance  means 
vastly  more  and  vastly  less  than  to  the 
Christian.  He  has  always  been  familiar 
with  the  thought ;  it  is  part  of  the  fibre 
of  his  historic  consciousness.  It  is  noth 
ing  exceptional.  He  can  confidently 
expect  in  time  himself  to  become  Christ 
in  flesh  and  blood  on  this  very  earth. 
This  will  occur  when  all  the  vibrations 
of  the  body  and  the  five  great  ethers 
which  reside  in  the  body,  and  constitute 
the  universe,  have  become  perfectly 


The    OCCULT  65 

rhythmical;  for  there  is,  my  friends, 
mark  this,  only  one  Being  in  the  uni 
verse,  and  that  is  the  universe  itself. 

"  Ah,  do  not  call  yourselves  sinners  ! 
Never  was  there  a  greater  lie !  Can 
you  not  hear  the  Swami  speaking  to 
you  once  again  in  never-to-be-forgotten 
accents,  'Ye  are  the  children  of  God, 
holy  and  perfect  beings  ? '  Does  not 
the  Hebrew  Scripture  itself  declare, 
{ Ye  are  gods  ? '  Ye  divinities  on  earth, 
sinners !  It  is  a  sin  to  call  man  so — 
a  standing  libel  on  human  nature  ! " 

There  was  a  pause,  in  which  the 
Cynic  drew  a  long  and  audible  breath, 
and  the  women  glanced  at  one  another 
with  eyes  full  of  frightened  fascination. 

Titus  Fletcher  sat  immovable — his 
long  legs  apparently  petrified  at  their 
painful  angle,  his  sallow  visage  drawn 
with  dismay. 


66  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

Where  was  he  ?  Was  this  Christ's 
country;  were  these  Christian  women, 
some  of  whom  sustained  the  mission 
aries  of  Christ  in  India?  The  dazed 
perplexity  expressed  in  his  face  struck 
the  Cynic,  who,  bending  over  to  catch 
his  eye,  made  with  his  lips,  without 
sound,  the  words :  "  It's  the  fashion. 
We  have  to  have  it." 

Miss  Sylvester,  appearing  to  real 
ize  that  it  was  not  well  to  keep  her 
hearers  up  to  concert  pitch  too  long, 
now  relaxed  her  lofty  and  commanding 
bearing,  and  assuming  a  captivating 
smile  and  a  conversational  manner, 
exclaimed : 

"  Ah,  I  fear  that  I  am  giving  you  the 
truth  faster  than  you  are  able  to  bear 
it !  It  has  so  long  been  a  part  of  my 
own  inner  consciousness  that  I  forget 
how  new  the  occult  life  is  to  others.  I 


The    OCCULT  67 

was  reminded  indeed  of  this  fact  this 
very  afternoon  by  a  simple  question 
put  to  me  by  a  charming  young  truth- 
seeker.  It  concerned  a  presentation 
she  had  seen,  if  I  remember,  quite 
recently,  of  the  wonderful  avatar  of 
Krishna.  l  Miss  Sylvester,'  she  asked 
me  in  her  naive,  artless  way, '  is  it  true 
that  the  Hindus  actually  worship  those 
little  green  jade  images  of  Krishna  ? ' 
Let  me  answer  her  question  thus  pub 
licly  for  the  benefit  of  you  all.  Pos 
sibly,  here  and  there  among  the  very 
degraded  and  ignorant,  for  some  such  I 
am  sony  to  say  there  are  even  in  en 
lightened  India,  there  may  be  persons 
who  worship  the  image  itself,  but  the 
prevalence  of  such  worship  has  been 
grossly  exaggerated.  The  use  of  the 
images  among  the  Hindu  people  is  sim 
ply  as  an  aid  to  concentration,  the  first 


68  The  LirrLE  GREEN  GOD 

great  principle  of  Yoga.  Fixing  the 
eyes  upon  the  representation  of  the 
great  incarnation  of  divinity  as  in 
Krishna,  or  in  Siva,  or  in  Vishnu,  is  an 
essential  aid  in  fixing  the  mind  upon 
what  the  deity  himself  represents.  Is 
the  question  answered  ? "  with  a  smile 
of  sweet  appeal. 

Heads  were  nodded  with  flattering 
emphasis  on  all  sides,  but  the  Cynic 
rose  up  in  his  corner,  not  far  from 
Titus  Fletcher,  and  asked  very  humbly 
if  Miss  Sylvester  would  be  so  kind  as 
to  explain  what  Krishna  in  particular 
represented. 

Miss  Sylvester  bowed  gracefully,  but 
though  her  smile  was  suave,  the  rising 
color  in  her  cheeks  showed  that  she 
scented  a  foe. 

"  Certainly,"  she  answered  promptly, 
"I  am  always  grateful  for  questions, 


OCCULT  69 


but  when  this  has  been  answered  we 
must  of  necessity  hasten  on  to  other 
points,  as  there  is  so  much  ground  to 
be  covered  in  one  brief  hour,"  and  she 
sighed  prettily  as  who  would  say, 
"  How  we  all  must  wish  that  I  could 
go  on  ad  libitum  et  ad  inflnitum!  " 

"Krishna  'is  the  thing  to  be  known,' 
the  centre  of  a  luminous  sphere  of  im 
measurable  and  inconceivable  splendor. 
His  incarnation  was  the  embodiment 
of  strength,  courage,  and  virile  power." 

"Virile  is  good,"  murmured  the 
Cynic  apart,  "  sixteen  thousand  one 
hundred  wives  during  his  incarnation, 
and  one  hundred  and  eight  thousand 
sons,  if  I  remember,"  and  Titus  Flet 
cher's  lips  twitched  with  a  smile  that 
was  closely  followed  by  a  groan,  for 
now  the  lady  was  saying  :  "  Of  course 
there  are  many  of  the  more  highly  cul- 


70  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

tivated  Hindus  who  reject  certain  leg 
ends  of  Krishna's  incarnation,  just  as 
among  Christian  nations  the  more  cul 
tured  pass  lightly  over  many  details  of 
the  Christ  myth.  Indeed,  there  is  a 
strong  resemblance  between  the  two 
cults,  as  any  one  possessing  the  smallest 
knowledge  of  the  Hindu  religion  can 
not  fail  to  observe.  It  is  generally 
conceded  now  that  the  Christ  myth  is 
to  a  large  degree  borrowed  from  the 
Krishna  cult.  The  Bhagavad  Gita  is 
to  the  Hindu  precisely  what  the  four 
Gospels  are  to  the  Christian — the  story 
of  the  incarnate  God." 

Then  Titus  Fletcher  grew  white,  for 
all  his  sallow  skin,  and  set  hard  his 
teeth,  while  a  strange,  steady  light 
glowed  in  his  dark,  sunken  eyes. 

"  Nowhere,  let  me  impress  this  truth 
once  for  all  upon  you,"  continued  the 


OCCULT 


speaker,  "  is  the  familiar  proverb  so 
continually  emphasized,  'To  the  pure 
all  things  are  pure,'  as  it  is  in  India. 
To  a  foreigner  of  salacious  and  cavil 
ing  spirit,  there  are  portions  of  the 
Mahabharata  which  can  be  interpreted 
in  base  senses,  but  to  the  Hindu  mind, 
chaste  and  firm  in  its  lofty  purity,  and 
with  its  wide,  impassive  vision  which 
sees  all  things  as  they  are  ('  They  have 
got  ahead,'  murmured  the  Cynic  apart), 
never  is  it  so  !  The  Krishna  cult  em 
bodies  in  popular  form  some  of  the 
noblest  conceptions  which  humanity 
has  ever  reached,  but,  like  all  high 
truths,  they  must  be  spiritually  dis 
cerned.  So  it  is  throughout  the  whole 
economy  of  Hinduism.  There  are  to 
be  seen,  as  some  of  you  have  heard, 
here  and  there,  especially  in  southern 
India,  on  the  walls  of  temples  and  in 


72  rbe  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

otter  places,  symbolic  representations 
which  in  a  civilization  less  noble,  less 
advanced,  would  be  forbidden  as  im 
proper.  I  cannot  speak  at  length  in 
this  presence  on  this  subject,  but  in  a 
later  lecture  I  shall  seek  to  make  clear 
to  you  that  beautiful  purity  of  Hindu 
womanhood,  that  lofty,  that  transcend 
ent  Hindu  conception  of  fatherhood, 
which  makes  symbols  like  the  Yoni 
and  the  Linga,  the  very  crown  of  the 
whole  wonderful  symbolism  of  the 
Hindu  religion,  fit  aids  to  its  magnifi 
cent  worship." 


THE    CTNIC   EXPLAINS 


FOR  some  moments  Titus  Fletcher 
lost  all  three  kinds  of  consciousness 
—simple,  sub,  and  super — stunned  by 
the  shrewdly  shaded  lying  of  the  charla 
tan  before  him.  When  he  again  awoke  to 
his  surroundings  a  voice  in  his  sub-con 
sciousness  seemed  to  be  inquiring  what 
it  had  advantaged  that  he  had  fought 
after  the  manner  of  a  man  with  beasts 
at  Haidarabad,  while  to  his  conscious 
ear,  the  carefully  trained,  artificial  voice 
was  smoothly  reiterating  :  "  Harmonize 
the  mental  vibrations  by  concentration 
and  all  else  will  be  given  you.  You 


76  The  LirrLE  GREEN  GOD 

shall  be  known,  nay,  you  are  known,  by 
your  vibrations.  Every  vegetable,  even, 
has  its  own  vibrations.  Meat  unduly 
increases  the  number  of  vibrations ; 
therefore,  if  you  would  be  perfect,  ab 
stain  from  meat.  When  you  desire 
communion  with  the  deity,  take  the  lotus 
posture ;  sit  with  legs  crossed,  on  the 
floor  if  possible,  plant  the  chin  steadily 
upon  the  heart,  and  with  eyes  fixed  upon 
the  tip  of  the  nose  concentrate  the  mind 
upon  the  toes  as  long  as  possible,  to 
tranquillize  circulation.  Then  bringing 
the  mind  from  the  toes  to  the  { mental 
space,'  the  point  where  clairvoyance 
always  takes  place — that  is,  the  space 
just  between  the  eyebrows — repeat  as 
follows  several  hundred  times — a  true 
Yogi  thinks  nothing  of  six  thousand  :— 
"Am  to  the  forehead,  um  to  the 
mouth,  im  to  the  right  eye,  im  to  the 


The    CTNIC    EXPLAINS   77 

left  eye,  um  to  the  right  ear,  um  to  the 
left  ear,  rim  to  the  right  nostril,  rim  to 
the  left  nostril,  brim  to  the  right  cheek, 
brim  to  the  left  cheek— 

At  this  point  Titus  Fletcher,  feeling 
that  the  brim  had  been  reached  in  his 
case  at  least,  rose  up  and  stole  silently 
but  without  ceremony  from  the  room 
and  out  into  the  street,  close  followed 
by  the  Cynic. 

Finding  that  he  had  a  companion,  the 
missionary  turned  and  his  eyes  flashed 
stormily  as  he  breathed  rather  than  said : 
"He  that  sitteth  in  the  heavens  shall 
laugli  I  The  Lord  shall  have  them  in 
derision." 

"The  charlatan  is  always  laughable 
to  those  who  are  not  taken  in  by  him," 
replied  the  Cynic.  "  You  may  be  sure 
that  our  friend  within  is  not  taken  in 
by  herself.  She  has  her  laugh  privately, 


78  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

also,  at  these  'flapdoodles  of  the  ages,' 
as  H.  P.  Blavatsky  used  to  sweetly  call 
her  followers.  This  Hindu  humbug  is 
her  trade,  that's  all." 

"  But  the  blasphemy  of  it !  "  groaned 
Titus  Fletcher,  "  and  the  lying.  The 
woman  knows  the  Krishna  diabolism 
too  well  not  to  be  perfectly  aware  of 
its  modern  origin." 

"Possibly  not.  Her  knowledge  is 
pretty  thin,"  said  the  Cynic  coolly. 
"  She  is  merely  a  diligent  skimmer,  an 
imitator  of  Swamis  and  such  like." 

"  Christianity,  my  friend,"  said  Titus 
Fletcher  with  swift  and  sudden  energy, 
bringing  his  long,  brown  right  forefinger 
down  upon  the  palm  of  his  left  hand ; 
"Christianity  is  the  highest  point  of 
vision  the  human  mind  has  ever  reached, 
or  ever  will  reach.  Hinduism  is  the 
human  mind  reeling  as  in  drunken  and 


The  CTNIC  EXPLAINS   79 

piteous  confusion  through  a  tangled 
thicket  of  sophistries,  puerile  and  child 
ish  and  inarticulate,  save  for  a  ray  of 
reason  and  poetry  here  and  there ;  it  is 
the  human  mind  groping  its  way 
through  a  cosmogony  more  absurd  than 
any  fairy  tale,  in  which  the  earth  is 
upheld  011  the  backs  of  elephants,  and 
seas  of  curd  and  clarified  butter  figure 
seriously ;  through  a  Pantheon  which 
teems  with  horrible  and  grotesque  mon 
sters,  part  beast,  part  god,  part  demon 
— gods  who  consume  soma  by  the  lake- 
ful,  and  devour  pancakes  with  insatiable 
appetite,  not  to  mention  exploits  far  less 
creditable.  This  is  the  Hinduism  of 
India,  which  I  have  known  intimately 
now  these  five  and  twenty  years.  The 
Hinduism  of  America  I  never  encoun 
tered  until  to-day.  What  does  it 
mean  ?  I  stand  astonished  !  What, 


80  The  LirrLE  GREEN  GOD 

who  were  those  women  ?  What  in  the 
name  of  reason  do  they  want  of  that 
tissue  of  blasphemous  chicanery  and 
misrepresentation  which  their  leader 
was  weaving  there  before  them  ? " 

The  Cynic  regarded  Titus  Fletcher 
smilingly  as  he  uttered  these  questions 
with  the  abrupt  imperative  of  intense 
emotion. 

"  I  can  see,  sir,"  he  replied  in  his 
laconic  fashion,  "it  would  be  surpris 
ing  to  one  who  had  been  out  of  the 
country  the  last  twenty  years.  We 
have  become  eclectic  in  religion.  The 
one  thing  we  seek  now  is  to  be  broad- 
minded,  and  the  thing  we  most  fear  is 
to  be  called  narrow.  Hence  we  im 
port  Krishna  and  his  kind." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  we  ? "  asked 
Titus  Fletcher. 

"  Pardon  me ;  I  used  the  word  im- 


CTNIC  EXPLAINS    81 

properly,  for  I  do  not  call  myself  a 
Christian,  nor  am  I  a  disciple  of  Krishna 
— yet.  Being  a  bachelor  myself,  the 
number  of  his  wives  does  not  impress 
me  favorably.  It  is  certain  superficially 
minded  Christian  women  who  are  cher- 
ishers-in-chief  of  this  American  Hindu 
ism — women  who  desire  to  be  consid 
ered  broad  in  their  culture,  whose  motto 
is,  'Be  broad,  be  broad,  and  evermore 
be  broad ; '  women  who  spend  their 
time  in  nothing  else  but  either  to  hear 
or  to  tell  some  new  thing.  The  fad 
started  with  the  Swami  Vivekananda 
in  1895,  and  ever  since  our  Christian 
land  has  been  a  happy  hunting  ground 
to  the  '  twice  born '  of  an  adventurous 
turn  of  mind." 

"  But  you  say  these  are  Christian 
women  ?  It  is  beyond  my  understand 
ing.  What  of  their  loyalty  to  Christ  ?" 


The  Cynic  shrugged  his  shoulders. 
"  What  of  the  loyalty  of  Judas  ? 
Every  man  has  his  price.  That  of 
Judas  was  thirty  pieces  of  silver." 

A  startled  look  in  the  face  of  the 
missionary  arrested  him.  For  a  moment 
their  eyes  met  solemnly. 

"  That  of  these  Christian  women  is 
considerably  less,"  said  the  Cynic  slowly. 

Titus  Fletcher  bent  his  head  as  if  he 
had  received  a  blow.  When  he  lifted 
it  he  stood  alone. 


A  GOOD  MAN'S  WRATH 


VI 
A    GOOD  MAN'S    WRATH 

BORNE  on  then  by  an  imperious  im 
pulse  Titus  Fletcher  hastened  with 
his  long  strides  to  measure  the  distance 
to  the  Alexander  mansion.  Entering,  he 
went  straight  to  the  door  of  his  host's 
study  and  knocked,  not  timidly,  not 
apologetically,  as  he  had  knocked  here 
tofore,  but  with  a  peremptory  summons 
which  brought  Alexander  instantly  to 
the  door,  pen  in  hand,  with  surprise 
plainly  impressed  on  his  face. 

Even  then  Titus  Fletcher  did  not 
apologize,  but,  entering,  took  a  chair 
and  sat  with  the  strange,  deep  glow 


86  The  LirrLE  GREEN  GOD 

still  burning  in  his  eyes,  and  so  waited 
until  Alexander  also  was  seated  and 
ready  to  give  him  his  attention.  Then 
he  spoke.  "  George  Alexander,  old 
friend,  do  you  know  where  I  have  left 
your  girls  just  now  ? "  he  asked  steadily. 

The  other  stared. 

"  Why,  no,"  he  answered  with  a  short 
laugh,  slightly  offended  at  the  brusque- 
ness  of  his  humbler  friend.  "In  the 
street,  perhaps.  It  is  time  they  were 
coming  home  from  a  lecture  about 
now/'  and  he  consulted  his  watch. 

"I  left  them  in  the  lecture  room," 
Fletcher  answered  quietly,  but  with  the 
peculiar  sternness  which  belonged  to 
him  now  and  again.  "  I  also  attended 
the  lecture." 

"  You  !  "  stammered  Alexander, 
aghast.  "  You  !  " 

"  Yes ;  I  sat  through  the  blasphemy, 


A  GOOD  MAN'S  WRATH  87 

bolder  than  ever  I  heard  even  in  heathen 
dom,  and  when  they  came  to  prattling 
the  imbecilities  of  fakir  incantations, 
I  came  out,  leaving  them  to  cultivate 
their  powers  of  endurance  yet  a  little 
longer.  My  friend,  do  you  know  what 
your  girls  are  hearing  ?  They  do  not- 
innocent  children.  God  save  them  from 
the  pantheism  that  woman  is  trying  to 
plunge  them  into  !  " 

"  Oh  come,  come,  Fletcher,"  protested 
Alexander,  "you're  putting  it  a  little 
too  strong !  Of  course,  being  a  mis 
sionary,  you  look  at  the  subject  from  a 
partisan  point  of  view.  It  is  perfectly 
inevitable." 

"Alexander,"  cried  the  missionary, 
who  had  been  stalking  up  and  down 
the  room,  and  now  turned  on  his  heel 
and  confronted  him  with  piercing  eyes 
and  the  mastery  which  a  supreme  pas- 


88  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

sion  bestows,  "  when  your  wife  told  me 
that  she  could  not  have  parted  from 
her  children  as  missionaries  part  from 
theirs,  feeling  plainly  that  the  hearts  of 
missionaries  were  made  callous  for  the 
purpose,  I  could  not  tell  her  that  the 
reason  we  have  to  send  our  children 
away  from  India  is  not  the  climate 
alone,  not  the  lack  of  schools  merely, 
but  because  of  the  foulness  and  corrup 
tion  in  thought  and  word  and  deed 
which  are  eating  out  the  heart  of  India ; 
because  of  obscene  symbols  on  cars  and 
temple  walls ;  because  of  the  nameless 
defilements  of  rites  performed  in  the 
name  of  the  Hindu  religion ;  because 
of  the  taint  of  impurity  which  strikes 
through  men,  women,  and  children  in 
every  walk  of  life  and  in  every  relation. 
I  could  not  keep  my  child  at  my  side, 
sorely  as  my  heart  cried  out  for  her, 


A  GOOD  MAN'S  WRATH  89 

lest  her  purity  should  be  breathed  upon 
by  that  foulness.  And  so,  through  all 
the  dear  years  of  her  girlhood,  those 
years  that  I  yearned  for  with  speechless 
yearning,  bereft  of  all  on  earth  save 
her,  I  have  kept  her  here  in  this  Chris 
tian  land  that  she  might  escape  the 
corruption  of  the  heathen  world.  And 
now  I  come  back  to  find  Christian  people 
importing  with  incredible  zeal  that  very 
corruption  into  this  Christian  land.  I 
sit  with  your  sweet  daughters,  pure- 
eyed,  white-souled  yet,  while  that  char 
latan  pleads  with  them  and  other 
Christian  women  to  behold  the  beauty, 
the  holiness,  the  transcendent  purity 
of  that  mythology  which  has  polluted 
heathendom.  It  broke  my  heart.  I  sat 
there,  Alexander,  with  drops  of  cold 
sweat  falling  in  agony  from  my  fore 
head,  and  heard  that  woman  tell  your 


90  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

wife,  your  children  such  tales  as  that 
the  ' Christ  myth' — think  of  it,  old 
friend  !  —  was  borrowed  from  the 
Krishna  cult,  younger  by  centuries. 
And  the  heavens  did  not  fall  nor  the 
earth  open.  Tell  me,  man,  tell  me,  is  it 
for  your  own  sake,  for  their  sake,  for 
God's  sake  that  you  are  sending  them 
there  ?  Do  you  want  your  daughters  to 
be  taught  to  talk  glibly  of  Christ  as  '  a 
great  Yogi '  ?  Do  you  fancy  having 
them  worship  that  green  jade  Krishna 
of  mine  to  induce  an  absence  of  ideas  ? 
I  think  it  might  be  effectual." 

"  Why,  Fletcher,  I  don't  send  them," 
began  Alexander  peevishly;  but,  un 
heeding  him,  Titus  Fletcher  went  on 
and  said  his  say. 

«/ 

"When  my  wife  began  her  studies  in 
Hindu  mythology  when  we  first  entered 
on  our  work  in  India,  our  Munshi  al- 


A  GOOD  MAN'S  WRATH  91 

ways  cut  out  the  story  of  Krishna  as  too 
indecent  to  be  looked  upon  by  a  pure 
woman's  eyes.  An  amorous,  cowherd 
ruffian,  Alexander,  with  a  matter  of 
sixteen  thousand  amours  to  his  account, 
playing  tricks  on  the  Gopis,  stealing 
their  garments  and  hiding  them  while 

O  O 

they  bathed — this  is  the  idealized  hero 
your  daughters  are  bidden  to  contem 
plate  as  the  centre  of  a  luminous  sphere, 
the  sole  existent  being,  the  great  orig 
inal  incarnation  of  whom  our  Saviour," 
and  Fletcher's  voice  fell  to  a  trembling 
undertone,  "  was  but  a  late  imitation. 
Alexander,  as  you  value  the  souls  of 
those  children,  keep  them  away  from 
that  crafty  adventuress  who  is  gambling 
away  their  hope  of  heaven  forthe  hope 
of  her  own  gains. 

"  But  that  is  only  the  smallest  part  of 
my  plea.    As  a  Christian  man  and  min- 


92  The  LirrLE  GREEN  GOD 

ister  I  implore  you  by  all  that  we  both 
adore,  to  keep  the  fountain  of  our  faith 
pure  from  this  defilement.  Think  of  us 
in  India  !  You  who  inherit  the  fruits  of 
centuries  of  Christianity,  have  all  things 
and  abound,  nor  lack  for  any  good 
thing,  perhaps  you  can  afford  to  play 
fast  and  loose  with  your  religion ;  but 
for  us  !  if  we  must  let  go  the  integrity 
of  our  hope  in  Christ  we  are  of  all  men 
most  miserable.  With  empty  hands 
shall  we  come  to  our  poor  starving 
people  if  you  tell  us  that  the  bread  of 
life  for  which  they  long  is  but  a  stone 
like  unto  their  own  dead  imaginations. 
Save  Christ  to  us,  Alexander!  We 
need  Him  in  India  if  you  do  not  need 
Him  here." 

The  man  towered  majestic,  prophet- 
like  as  he  delivered  his  message — his 
message  of  the  Orient  to  the  Occident. 


A  GOOD  MAN'S  WRATH  93 

Alexander's  florid  face  had  grown 
gray  and  shriveled ;  his  eyes  looked 
sunken  and  dulled. 

"  If  this  is  as  bad  as  you  think,"  he 
said  feebly,  "it  must  be  looked  into. 
Something  must  be  done  about  it." 

But  as  he  spoke  he  knew  with  an 
absolute  conviction  that  although  all 
this  should  be  true,  and  as  much  more, 
it  would  count  as  nothing  beside  his 
wife's  desire  to  win  into  the  inner  circle 
of  Cleveland's  fashionable  literary  elect, 
among  whom,  for  the  Cynic  was  a  true 
witness,  the  Hindu  cult  was  then  the 
ruling  fad. 

Then  Titus  Fletcher,  looking  upon 
the  man,  for  the  first  time  saw  his  spir 
itual  insignificance,  his  moral  impo 
tence  ;  saw  the  man  himself  beneath  the 
stately  coverings  of  his  place  and  name, 
wordly  and  futile,  cowed  by  convention 


94  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

and  subservient  to  an  ambitious  woman. 
For  a  moment  he  stared  as  if  a  new 
comer  had  taken  the  polished  oak  chair 
at  his  friend's  desk.  Did  George 
Alexander  know  what  that  strange 
gaze  signified? 


INrERRUPriONS 


VII 
INTERRUPTIONS 

TITUS  FLETCHER  betook  him- 
self  hastily  to  his  own  apartment, 
there  on  his  knees  to  intercede  in 
prayer  for  the  evangelization  of  this 
Christian  land,  and  its  deliverance 
from  the  curse  of  eclectic  religion. 

George  Alexander,  left  alone,  sat 
motionless  for  a  moment  or  two  at  his 
desk.  He  felt  suddenly  grown  a  very 
old  man,  such  an  endless  space  seemed 
to  stretch  between  the  ideals  of  his 
student  years  and  his  adaptations  of 
to-day.  The  old  powers  and  passions 
had  been  conjured  up  forcibly  by  the 


98  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

interview  with  Fletcher.  Strangely 
enough,  for  an  instant  he  felt  a  faint 
envy  of  this  poor,  wayfaring  man  of 
grief  flickering  up  in  his  mind. 
Fletcher  had  kept  something  which  he, 
Alexander,  had  lost,  and,  in  his  absorb 
ing  life,  had  hardly  missed  before— 
something  which,  he  began  to  feel  with  a 
certain  soreness  of  spirit,  made  the  pre 
vailing  power  of  Christ  in  the  world  cred 
ible  as  his  own  ministry  had  not  done. 
Then  the  house  door  was  opened, 
and  he  heard  the  voices  of  his  wife 
and  daughters  in  the  hall  below.  A 
quick  impulse  of  anger  rose  then 
through  the  confused  emotions  of  the 
moment  and  assumed  command.  The 
primitive  instinct  which  found  expres 
sion  in  the  Adamic  double-thrust : 
"The  woman  whom  Thou  gavest  me" 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  wholly 


INTER  R  UPriONS         99 

eliminated  yet  as  a  masculine  charac 
teristic.  Alexander  hastened  to  de 
scend  the  stairs,  his  face  gloomy  and 
clouded. 

" Holloa,  papa !"  called  Clara,  "what 
is  the  matter  ?  You  look  as  if  some 
thing  tremendous  had  happened." 

Mrs.  Alexander  had  found  a  number 
of  cards  and  notes  upon  the  tray  which 
she  was  hastily  looking  over. 

"  Something  tremendous  lias  hap 
pened,"  replied  her  father  with  em 
phasis  as  he  reached  the  foot  of  the 
stairs,  and  stood  with  hands  in  his 
trousers  pockets  confronting  the  three. 
"I  wish  to  have  an  end  put  to  this 
Hindu  rubbish  short  off.  I  will  not 
have  my  wife  and  daughters  seen  in 
that  sort  of  gathering  again  while  I  am 
pastor  of  this  church.  I  want  the  fact 
distinctly  understood." 


100  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

Mrs.  Alexander  stared  at  her  hus 
band  in  silent  amazement.  He  did 
not  often  interfere  thus  with  her  line 
of  action. 

"  What  can  have  happened,  George? " 
she  asked  with  dignity.  "I  do  not 
understand  you." 

"  I  have  just  been  given  an  account 
of  the  lecture  you  have  attended  this 
afternoon,  and  if  half  of  what  I  have 
heard  is  true  I  should  think  you  might 
see  yourself  that  it  is  no  place  for 
Christian  women." 

"Who  has  told  you  about  it?" 
asked  his  wife  coldly,  glancing  at  a 
note  which  she  had  singled  out  from 
the  rest  and  opened. 

"The  Wilders  were  there,  papa,  and 
the  Fieldings,  and  quite  a  number  of 
First  Church  people,"  said  Clara  in 
coaxing  conciliation. 


INrERRUPriONS        101 

"  It  makes  no  difference  who  was 
there,"  said  Alexander  shortly.  "Mr. 
Fletcher  happened  to  be  present  this 
afternoon,  and  you  can  imagine  how  it 
would  strike  a  man  of  his  convictions." 

Evelyn's  face  flushed  high. 

"  Oh  well,  my  dear,"  said  Mrs.  Alex 
ander  with  a  little  shrug  of  her  shoul 
ders,  "  if  we  are  all  to  plan  our  lives 
in  accordance  with  Mr.  Fletcher's  ideas 
it  will  make  quite  a  revolution  in  va 
rious  directions,  I  should  think.  But 
excuse  me,  George,  if  we  drop  the  sub 
ject  just  for  the  present.  This  note 
which  I  find  waiting  for  me  from  Mrs. 
Raymond  is  marked  immediate,  and  if 
you  will  kindly  let  me  read  it  I  think 
we  may  all  find  it  of  interest." 

There  was  a  moment  of  silence  dur 
ing  which  Mrs.  Alexander's  eyes  flew 
over  the  note  ;  the  Doctor  and  Clara 


102  The  LirrLE  GREEN  GOD 

stood  expectant,  but  Evelyn,  unnoticed, 
ran  away  up  stairs. 

"Yes,  it  is  true,"  exclaimed  Mrs. 
Alexander  exultantly,  the  little  un 
pleasantness  already  forgotten,  "  and 
isn't  it  perfectly  delightful  ?  James 
Watson  West  himself  is  to  be  here 
after  all.  He  has  made  a  sudden 
change  of  plan  it  seems  and  'dropped 
down '  on  the  Raymonds,  that  is  the 
way  she  puts  it,  a  little  after  noon  to 
day.  He  will  only  be  in  Cleveland 
two  days,  for  he  sails  on  Tuesday. 
She  takes  it  for  granted  that  she  may 
bring  him  to  dinner." 

"  Well,  rather  ! "  cried  Clara,  clap 
ping  her  hands.  "  How  simply  grand  ! 
Oh,  mamma,  to  think  we  are  to  see 
James  Watson  West  after  all,  and  have 
him  at  our  house  to  dinner !  Evelyn " 
—and  she  turned  to  pour  out  her 


INTERRUPTIONS        103 

raptures  upon  her  sister,  but  Evelyn 
was  nowhere  to  be  seen. 

"  That  is  really  very  nice,  my  dear," 
said  Alexander,  and  he  took  the  note 
from  his  wife's  hand  and  read  it  him 
self  with  dignified  but  obvious  com 
placency.  James  Watson  West  was 
the  literary  sensation  of  the  year  in 
England,  and  in  select  circles  in  Amer 
ica  also. 

"  And  I  am  not  to  be  disappointed 
after  all,"  murmured  Mrs.  Alexander 
as  she  hastened  to  the  dining-room  to 
confer  with  her  maids. 

Almost  at  that  moment  Titus  Flet 
cher,  in  the  guest  room  above,  was  inter 
rupted  in  his  intercession  by  a  timid 
tapping  at  his  door. 

He  rose  from  his  knees,  passed  his 
hand  over  his  brow  as  if  to  remove  the 
traces  of  his  travail  of  spirit,  and  opened 


104  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

the  door.  Evelyn  Alexander,  still 
wearing  her  coat  and  hat,  stood  there. 

"  Mr.  Fletcher,"  she  said  hurriedly, 
her  eyes  searching  his  face  with  strange 
appeal,  "  I  have  come  to  ask  you  to 
forgive  me  for  what  I  have  done,  for 
my  part  in  those  hateful  lectures.  I 
did  not  know  you  were  there  this 
afternoon  until  now,  but  I  hated  my 
self  for  listening  to  that  woman." 

"  I  do  not  think  you  belonged  there, 
my  dear  young  lady ;  but  doubtless  you 
did  not  know  the  nature  of  the  doc 
trine  which  that  singular  person  was 
setting  forth." 

"  Yes,  I  am  afraid  I  did,"  said  Eve 
lyn  soberly.  "I  never  felt  it  though 
as  I  did  this  afternoon.  Suddenly  our 
helping  to  sustain  the  lectures  and  all 
came  before  me  as  a  betrayal  " — here 
her  voice  faltered  a  little — "yes,  a 


INTERRUPTIONS        105 

betrayal  of  the  highest — a  wounding 
of  Christ.  .  .  ." 

"  In  the  house  of  His  friends,"  added 
Titus  Fletcher  solemnly.  He  held  out 
his  hand  and  grasped  Evelyn's  kindly. 

"  It  is  good  that  you  have  seen  it," 
he  said  simply.  "I  know  that  this 
perception  will  be  enough  to  end  the 
thing  for  you." 

"  Thank  you  for  trusting  me,"  she 
said.  "  I  am  afraid  it  would  not  have 
done  that  if  I  had  not  seen  you.  Will 
you  tell  your  daughter,  Mr.  Fletcher, 
that  I  am  very  grateful  that  her  father 
ever  came  to  our  house  ? " 

"That  is  very  beautiful  of  you, 
dear  child,"  and  tears  filled  the  tired 
eyes.  "I  am  leaving  to-night,  you 
know,"  he  added. 

"Yes,  and  I  am  so  sorry,"  she  said, 
holding  out  both  her  hands,  and  then 


106  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

without  further  word  she  slipped  away 
to  her  own  room. 

Half  an  hour  later  another  knock 
came  at  Titus  Fletcher's  door.  As  he 
opened  it  this  time  his  face  was  clear 
and  bright,  like  that  of  one  who  has 
heard  good  news.  Dr.  Alexander  en 
tered  the  room.  He  was  in  evening 
dress,  resplendent  in  ample,  shining 
shirt  front  and  finest  broadcloth. 

"  Ah,  Fletcher,"  he  said  in  an  off-hand 
tone,  seeking  to  hide  a  trace  of  embar 
rassment  produced  by  his  sense  of  their 
recent  strenuous  interview,  while  his 
glance  some  way  slipped  past  that  of  his 
friend,  which  it  did  not  meet.  "  I  ought 
to  have  told  you  before  that  dinner  will 
not  be  until  seven  to-night.  Perhaps 
you  have  heard  Mrs.  Alexander  speak 
of  the  fact  that  she  is  giving  a  little 
dinner  party  to-night.  We  are  to  have 


INTERRUPTIONS        107 

several  rather  distinguished  people  here, 
such  as  Professor  Marshall,  the  Ray 
monds,  and  the  English  novelist,  West, 
as  it  happens,  who  is  their  guest." 

Titus  Fletcher  bowed  as  if  realizing 
the  privilege  in  store  for  him. 

"  No  use,"  said  Alexander  to  him 
self,  "trying  to  enlighten  him  as  to 
West.  I  don't  suppose  he  ever  read  a 
novel  in  his  life." 

He  was  glancing  down  at  his  own 
person  as  he  spoke  again. 

"I  have  had  to  put  on  my  dress  suit," 
and  he  hesitated  a  little,  "  out  of  defer 
ence  to  my  guests.  I  don't  care,  you 
know,  a  rap  for  such  formalities — but 
it  seems  to  be  demanded.  Still  it  has 
occurred  to  me  that  possibly  you  might 
be  slightly  embarrassed  if  you  don't 
happen  to  have  a  dress  suit  with  you, 
and  in  that  case  you  know,"  and  his 


108  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

wonted  confident  heartiness  began  to 
come  back,  "I  shouldn't  in  the  least 
mind  wearing  my  own  l  preaching  suit.' 
That  is  what  we  used  to  call  them  in 
the  seminary  days,  when  we  went  out 
to  the  country  churches  Saturday  after 
noons,  is  it  not  ? " 

It  had  taken  Titus  Fletcher  an  in 
stant  to  catch  his  host's  point  of  view. 
He  caught  it,  however,  with  a  smile  of 
gentle  amusement. 

"Mighty  thoughtful  I  call  that, 
George,"  he  said,  evidently  no  whit  con 
cerned  in  the  matter.  "  I  haven't  a 
swallow-tail  in  my  trunk,  I  confess— 
haven't  owned  one,  in  fact,  since  I  grad 
uated  in  '70,  and  I  fancy  I  wouldn't  cut 
much  of  a  figure  in  one  anyway.  But 
that  style  suits  you  perfectly.  Don't 
talk  about  changing  !  It  is  a  pleasure," 
he  added,  laughing  with  a  certain  al- 


INTERRUPTIONS       109 

most  gay  cordiality,  "to  see  the  fine, 
stately  figure  you  make.  Proud  of 
you,  old  fellow  !  Your  friends  will 
excuse  this  ancient  and  honorable 
array  of  mine,  you  see,  on  the  score 
that  I  am  about  to  take  my  train,"  he 
added,  the  rather  to  allay  Alexander's 
scarcely  concealed  uneasiness,  as  he 
glanced  at  the  old-fashioned  clerical 
suit  of  faded  black. 

"Yes,  yes,  very  true,  very  true,"  re 
plied  Alexander  hastily,  "  I  had  not 
thought  of  that.  Sorry  you  have  to 
leave  so  soon,  Fletcher." 

Then,  almost  without  his  own  voli 
tion,  he  found  himself  adding  what  it 
had  been  in  his  purpose  not  to  say. 

"  I  am  sorry  for  some  things  which 
may  have  surprised  you  since  you  have 
been  with  us.  You  have  been  hurt,  for 
instance,  by  this  new  fad  of  Oriental- 


110  The  LirrLE  GREEN  GOD 

ism  that  has  struck  the  women.  I  am 
sure  you  meant  every  word  you  said 
this  afternoon." 

"You  are  right,"  assented  his  friend 
gravely,  "  I  did  indeed." 

"  But  I  want  to  say  that  you  must 
not  put  too  much  emphasis  upon  that, 
must  not  over-estimate  its  importance. 
I  don't  like  it  any  better  than  you  do, 
but  it  doesn't  go  very  deep,  Fletcher, 
you  can  depend  on  that.  Nothing  does 
nowadays,"  he  added  bitterly.  "  We 
haven't  time." 

Then  in  silence  he  turned  and  walked 
away  down  the  hall,  the  sense  strong 
upon  him  that  he  had  not  been  bril 
liantly  successful  in  setting  the  matter 
in  a  favorable  light. 


THE    BRITISH  LION 


VIII 
THE  BRITISH  LION 


«  "VT^ES,  I  am  sure <  The  World's  Slow 
J_    Stain  '  is  my  favorite.     To  me 
it  is  simply  the  greatest  novel  I  have 
read  in  ten  years." 

Mrs.  Alexander  had  "arrived." 
Her  drawing-room,  suffused  with  fra 
grance  of  exquisite  flowers  and  softly 
shaded  wax  lights,  was  filled  with  her 
dinner  guests.  Their  number  was  com 
plete,  their  spirits  in  good  order;  her 
husband  was  the  handsomest  man  in 
the  room,  and  no  one  could  be  a  more 
courtly  and  gracious  host;  the  girls 
were  in  good  looks,  and  her  own  toilette 


114  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

was  perfect ;  and,  above  all,  the  aston 
ishingly  young,  smooth-faced,  careless- 
mannered  English  aristocrat,  who  bent 
his  head  to  receive  her  well-weighed 
phrases,  was  James  Watson  West  him 
self.  Could  more  be  desired?  Not  more, 
perhaps,  but  possibly  less — one  less. 
There  would  not  be  quite  the  origi 
nally  intended  number  at  the  table 
presently,  not  the  perfect  balance  which 
she  liked,  but  that  was  a  mere  detail. 

West  had  a  civilly  bored  air  as  he 
lifted  his  head  now  and  appeared  to  be 
reflecting  how  best  to  work  out  of  the 
situation.  But  even  this  rather  pleased 
Mrs.  Alexander.  It  seemed  to  add  to 
his  distinction. 

She  noticed  that  his  glance  had 
strayed  from  her  to  the  chimney-piece, 
in  front  of  which  Evelyn  stood  talk 
ing  to  Titus  Fletcher.  He  looked  fix- 


The    BRITISH   LION     115 

edly  and  silently  for  a  moment  in  that 
direction. 

"No  wonder  he  prefers  to  look  at 
Evelyn,"  she  thought  indulgently. 
"She  is  dear  to-night  in  that  white 
chiffon.  But  she  ought  to  be  mingling 
with  the  outside  guests  now.  Evelyn 
is  so  unadaptive,  lately." 

"  Pardon  me,"  the  full,  round  English 
voice  began,  and  she  lifted  her  face  to 
her  guest,  full  of  devoted  attention; 
"  will  you  be  so  good,  Mrs.  -  —  ah, 
pardon  me  - 

"Alexander,"  interjected  his  hostess 
deftly,  realizing  at  one  instant  how  little 
she  stood  for,  as  yet,  with  the  much- 
feted  foreigner. 

"  Certainly.  How  could  I  have  been 
so  careless  ?  May  I  ask  the  name  of  the 
gentleman  opposite  us  talking  with  the 
charming  girl  in  white  ? " 


116  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

There  was  an  extraordinary  interest 
in  his  face  as  he  asked  the  question; 
all  his  careless  negligence  had  vanished. 

"  The  dark,  thin  man  ? "  asked  Mrs. 
Alexander,  surprised.  It  was  not 
Evelyn  after  all,  then,  in  whom  Mr. 
West  was  so  interested. 

"  Yes.  That  man  with  the  face  of  a 
saint  and  a  scholar  combined.  He  has 
not  at  all  an  American  face.  I  cannot 
make  him  out." 

"You  must  mean  Mr.  Fletcher,  an 
old  acquaintance  of  my  husband,  who 
chances  to  be  with  us.  He  is  leaving 
on  the  train  just  after  dinner,"  added 
Mrs.  Alexander,  with  delicately  apolo 
getic  implication. 

"  Fletcher !  "  James  West's  face  was 
suddenly  transformed  by  a  mixture  of 
incredulity  and  delight.  "Is  it  pos 
sible  that  it  is  Titus  Fletcher?  The 


BRITISH   LION    117 

missionary  F] etcher  ?  Fletcher  of 
Haidarabad  ?  I  knew  I  had  seen  that 
man  before,  but  Fletcher!  It  is  too 
good  to  be  true." 

Mrs.  Alexander  assented  amiably  to 
all  these  propositions  at  once,  conceal 
ing  her  own  astonishment. 

"Well,  this  is  amazing,"  murmured 
West,  his  eyes  fixed  full  upon  the  lean, 
sallow  face  of  the  unconscious  mission 
ary.  "  To  meet  him  again  at  last — and 
here  !  You  know  the  man,  Mrs.  Alex 
ander  ? — know  him  well  ?  " 

"Oh,  yes,  indeed,  Mr.  West.  He  has 
been  making  us  quite  a  long  visit." 

Several  persons  had  now  come  be 
tween  them  and  the  fair  girl  and  dark 
man  by  the  chimney-piece. 

"  How  you  must  have  enjoyed  it ! 
He  is  a  rare  man — a  wonderful 
scholar  you  know,  of  course  you  know ; 


118  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

but  really,  you  must  excuse  me,  I  have 
not  seen  him  in  fifteen  years."  And 
with  the  words  West  left  her,  and 
she  caught  a  fleeting  glimpse  of  him  as 
she  passed  to  give  her  husband  the 
signal  that  dinner  was  served.  He  had 
grasped  Titus  Fletcher  by  both  hands, 
and  the  amazement  and  joy  of  his  face 
were  reflected  in  that  of  the  mission 
ary.  She  paused  long  enough  to  hear 
the  latter  exclaim: 

"  Jimmy  West !  I  should  know  you 
anywhere.  I  cannot  be  mistaken,"  and 
the  response: 

"  Yes,  Jimmy  for  a  fact !  On  my 
honor,  I  was  never  so  pleased  in  my 
life.  Now,  this  is  worth  coming  to 
Cleveland  for ! " 

"And  so  you  knew  Mr.  West  before  ? 
Knew  him — it  must  be  in  India  ?  " 


BRITISH   LION     119 

Mrs.  Alexander  asked  the  question  of 
Titus  Fletcher  at  the  dinner  table. 
She  had  placed  him  in  snug  quarters 
at  her  own  side.  James  Watson  West 
she  had  generously  conceded  to  the 
other  end  of  the  table,  where  he  sat 
beside  his  host. 

Titus  Fletcher's  face  was  radiant. 
He  looked  almost  young  and  positively 
handsome. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  he  said,  laughing  for  sheer 
delight  in  the  encounter.  "  I  knew  him 
well.  Tutored  the  youngster,  in  fact, 
at  Poona  for  a  year  or  more ;  the  jolli- 
est  boy  you  ever  saw,  and  such  a 
rascal.  And  now  to  think  of  his  hav 
ing  turned  out  a  great  writer.  I  never 
was  so  surprised.  This  comes  of  being 
buried  in  India.  I  have  known  noth 
ing  of  them  for  years.  His  father, 
you  see,  Mrs.  Alexander,  was  Colonel 


120  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

Sir  Richard  West,  a  very  gallant  soldier 
and  gentleman.  The  family  were  all 
at  Poona  for  a  period  of  years  until 
Sir  Richard's  death." 

"  Indeed,"  responded  Mrs.  Alexander 
with  attentive  courtesy.  It  gave  her  a 
singular  sensation  to  hear  their  modest 
guest  talking  of  titled  people  in  this 
matter-of-course  fashion.  "And  you 
were  at  Poona  during  the  time.  I  see." 

"  Yes,  I  taught  in  the  Sanskrit  Col 
lege  there  for  a  year,  simply  as  a  substi 
tute,  you  know." 

"  How  very  interesting,"  replied  his 
hostess  with  marked  respect. 

Down  at  the  other  end  of  the  table, 
meanwhile,  James  Watson  West  was 
weaving  his  side  of  the  story  for  a  few 
attentive  listeners  close  at  hand,  with 
the  picturesque  touch  of  the  man  of 
imagination  and  sympathy. 


The    BRiriSH   LION     121 

"  I  suppose  if  you  didn't  know  him 
Mr.  Fletcher  would  strike  you  as  almost 
grotesque  with  his  gaunt  visage,  his  an 
cient  garments,  and  his  super-mundane 
air.  You  would  have  to  go  to  India  to 
know  what  he  really  stands  for.  Why 
I  truly  believe  his  people  there  would 
die  for  him  any  day,  and  well  they 
might !  He  has  died  for  them  a  thou 
sand  times.  Where  did  I  know  him? 
At  Poona.  My  father  was  stationed 
there,  and  my  mother  and  we  older 
children,  my  two  older  brothers  and  I, 
were  with  them.  There  was  a  death  in 
the  Faculty  of  the  Sanskrit  College, 
as  it  happened,  and  they  sent  for  Mr. 
Fletcher  to  fill  the  place  for  a  time  until 
they  elected  a  man.  Is  he  a  fine  schol 
ar  ?  Oh,  bless  me,  yes !  Isn't  that  known 
over  here  ?  He  is  so  unmercifully 
humble  and  retiring  that  he  will  never 


122  The  LirrLE  GREEN  GOD 

accept  the  degrees  and  things  they  try 
to  give  him.  Well,  he  came  to  Poona. 
Rather  handsome  he  was  in  those  days, 
as  I  remember,  with  a  quality  about 
him,  too,  that  won  his  way  everywhere, 
and  he  as  unconscious  and  as  little 
pleased  with  himself  as  he  is  now.  My 
father  was  greatly  taken  with  him,  and 
seeing  that  we  young  scapegraces  were 
going  to  the  bad  uncommonly  fast,  he 
engaged  him  to  tutor  us  between  his 
college  hours.  In  that  way  he  became 
almost  a  member  of  our  family  for  a 
time — that  is,  until  my  father's  death. 
I  think  my  mother  would  have  died, 
too,  had  it  not  been  for  him  then.  The 
best  description  for  him  is  simply  'a 
man  of  God.'  That  made  him  what  he 
was  to  us  in  our  trouble. 

"  His  was  the  last  face  we  saw  as  we 
sailed  from   Bombay,    my  mother  in 


The    BRITISH   LION     123 

her  mourning,  broken-hearted,  and  we 
three  boys.  We  would  have  taken  him 
with  us  if  we  could.  We  kept  up  a 
correspondence  for  a  few  years,  but  you 
know  how  those  things  die  a  natural 
death  in  time.  They  tried  hard  to  get 
him  to  take  the  Sanskrit  professorship, 
and  remain  at  Poona.  It  would  have 
been  a  fine  thing  for  him  in  every  way, 
but  the  saint  in  him  was  stronger  than 
the  scholar,  and  back  he  went  to  his 
natives  in  Haidarabad.  There  I  sup 
pose  he  has  been  all  these  years,  grow 
ing  quainter  and  leaner,  and  more  un 
worldly.  This  is  his  furlough,  I  take 
it,  or  is  he  retired  on  half -pay  ?  I  am 
eager  to  know  how  things  strike  him 
here  in  the  States.  I  fancy  he  will  see 
changes  and  feel  himself  perhaps  a 
little  at  a  loss.  And  he  leaves  soon 
after  dinner,  you  say?  Ah,  what  a 


124  The  LirrLE  GREEN  GOD 

shame !  How  I  wish  I  had  known 
earlier  in  the  day  that  he  was  in 
Cleveland!" 

As  they  rose  from  the  table,  West, 
with  a  few  words  of  apology  for  de 
priving  the  company  of  Mr.  Fletcher's 
society,  withdrew  into  the  library  with 
the  missionary  for  the  half-hour  of  per 
sonal  and  private  conversation  which 
the  circumstances  justified.  He  was 
excused  with  amiable  courtesy  by  his 
hosts,  who  concealed  their  natural  dis 
appointment  with  very  good  grace. 

The  two  men  reappeared  only  when 
it  was  time  for  Titus  Fletcher  to  leave 
for  his  train.  While  he  ran  up  stairs 
to  make  ready  for  departure,  West 
made  his  formal  adieux  to  the  Alex 
anders,  explaining  that  he  could  not 
forego  the  privilege  of  accompanying 
his  old  friend  to  the  station.  A  mo- 


The    BRITISH    LION     125 

Dient  later,  Titus  Fletcher  having  taken 
most  brotherly  and  grateful  leave,  the 
Alexander  family  stood  in  a  semicircle 
about  the  house  door  to  see  him  depart. 
Thus  they  beheld  the  lion  of  the  occa 
sion,  the  distinguished  and  brilliant 
Englishman,  as  he  humbly  bore  the 
missionary's  little  tin  trunk  after  him, 
and  heard  the  latter,  with  a  faint  echo 
of  his  quondam  tutor's  authority,  say: 

"  Look  out  there,  Jimmy ;  be  careful. 
Don't  shatter  my  idols !  " 

As  the  door  closed  upon  the  twain, 
Mrs.  Alexander  relaxed  for  an  instant 
from  her  society  attitude,  visibly  and 
invisibly,  and  a  faintly  bitter  smile 
showed  about  her  lips. 

"  Unexpected,  at  least,"  she  mur 
mured. 

"  To  think,"  cried  Evelyn  Alexander 
under  her  breath,  "  that  our  illustrious, 


126  rbe  LirrLE  GREEN  GOD 

long-looked-for  dinner,  lion  and  all, 
should  turn  into  an  apotheosis  of  Mr. 
Titus  Fletcher  !  Honestly,  I  think  it 
was  perfectly  beautiful !  " 

And  they  returned  to  their  denuded 
dinner  company. 


THE  PASSING  OF  KRISHNA 


IX 
THE  PASSING  OF  KRISHNA 

SEVERAL  months  having  passed 
since  the  visitation  of  the  Rev. 
Titus  Fletcher  to  his  old  friend,  Dr. 
Alexander  came  one  November  even 
ing  into  his  wife's  little  parlor  with 
the  announcement : 

"  You  would  never  guess  whom  I  saw 
in  the  street  this  afternoon — Titus 
Fletcher." 

Mrs.  Alexander  dropped  the  maga 
zine  she  had  been  reading,  and  replied 
with  a  cheerfulness  which  did  not  ring 
quite  true : 

"How  long  will  he  stay?      Let  us 

hear  all  about  it." 
9 


130  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

"  Oh,  he's  not  coming  here,  my  dear.  In 
fact  he  left  town,  I  suppose,  at  six  o'clock. 
He  sent  his  kindest  regards  to  you  all." 

"  Didn't  you  invite  him  here  at  all, 
papa  ? "  inquired  Evelyn  Alexander 
reproachfully. 

"  Of  course  I  asked  him  to  come  home 
with  me,"  returned  Dr.  Alexander,  his 
face  somewhat  clouded,  "but  he  was 
obliged  to  leave  to  meet  an  engagement 
in  Whitestown  this  evening.  He  re 
gretted  not  seeing  you,  and  was  most 
appreciative  of  your  kindness  when  he 
was  in  Cleveland  before.  The  curious 
thing  is  that  the  man  has  been  here  in 
town  three  weeks,  it  seems,  sick  with 
malarial  fever,  and  never  let  us  know. 
He  was  taken  ill  on  his  way  East,  and 
was  obliged  to  stop  off  here,  and  here  he 
has  remained.  He  said  he  was  afraid  if 
he  sent  us  any  word,  that  we  might  be 


PASSING  OF  KRISHNA  131 

burdened  or  bothered,  and  he  really 
has  had  everything  he  needed.  He  has 
not  been  out  at  all  until  to-day." 

"  Well,"  said  Mrs.  Alexander,  after  a 
moment's  reflection,  "  we  certainly  could 
not  have  managed  his  illness  here,  could 
we  ?  I  should  have  been  glad,  of  course, 
to  send  him  flowers  and  jelly  and  have 
shown  our  interest.  It  is  too  bad." 

Evelyn  Alexander  gave  a  queer  little 
gasp  under  her  breath. 

"  Where  has  Mr.  Fletcher  been  stay 
ing  ?  "  she  asked  anxiously. 

"  In  a  boarding  house  down  on 
Huron  Street." 

They  looked  at  one  another  with 
evident  perturbation. 

"Huron  Street !  "the  ladies  exclaimed 
in  concert. 

"  Oh,  well,"  Mrs.  Alexander  summed 
up  the  case  finally,  "  don't  distress  your- 


132  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

self,  George.  You  certainly  are  not  to 
blame.  Mr.  Fletcher  is,  of  course,  a  very 
estimable  man,  and  I  thoroughly  appre 
ciate  him  ;  but  he  is  peculiar,  and  he 
does  not,  don't  you  know,  quite  belong 
in  our  world." 

Which  was,  in  fact,  a  very  judicial 
summing  up  of  the  case,  although 
Evelyn  silently  noted  an  exception  and 
registered  an  appeal. 

At  ten  o'clock  of  that  same  evening 
Titus  Fletcher  entered  the  waiting-room 
of  the  railway  station  at  Whitestown 
and  sat  down.  It  was  a  grim,  repulsive 
room — the  greasy  walls  partly  covered 
by  yellowing  time  tables ;  there  was  a 
dirty  floor,  and  a  huge  cylindrical  stove 
with  a  dull  red  paunch  diffusing  a  suf 
focating  heat.  Outside  there  was  wind 
and  rain. 

The  missionary  was  leaner  than  ever, 


The  PASSING  OF  KRISHNA  133 

sallower,  if  possible,  and  more  gaunt 
and  hollow  of  countenance.  His  clerical 
suit  showed  the  flight  of  time  percept 
ibly,  and  hung  loosely  on  his  meagre 
limbs.  The  lines  in  his  face  seemed  to 
have  been  graven  deeper  by  care  and 
disappointment.  The  months  spent  in 
Chicago  had  not  lessened  his  sense  of 
his  own  homelessness  in  his  native 
land,  and  they  had  shown  him  ever 
more  clearly  the  diluted  conviction  and 
half-hearted  purpose  in  the  church  it 
self,  which  had  made  it  possible  for 
Hinduism  and  every  other  ism  to  in 
vade  its  ranks. 

On  entering  the  room  he  deposited 
the  familiar  tin  trunk  on  a  seat  and  in 
quired  at  the  ticket  window  concerning 
the  fare  to  Dunkirk,  but  he  did  not 
proceed  to  buy  a  ticket.  On  the  con 
trary,  he  returned  to  his  place  and  for 


134  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

a  few  moments  seemed  to  consider  a 
serious  situation. 

The  situation  was  serious,  being 
briefly  that  Titus  Fletcher  found  him 
self  very  nearly  bankrupt,  having  left 
the  larger  part  of  a  not  very  large 
semi-annual  stipend  in  the  hands  of  a 
doctor,  a  druggist,  a  boarding-house 
keeper,  and  a  trained  nurse,  in  the 
city  of  Cleveland. 

The  magnitude  of  the  bills  of  these 
various  personages  had  struck  the  mis 
sionary  aghast,  but  he  had  paid  them 
without  a  murmur.  With  characteristic 
self-effacement  he  had  sent  no  report  of 
his  illness  to  "the  Board"  ;  indeed,  he 
had  not  foreseen  the  need  of  an  advance. 
He  had  found  himself,  therefore,  upon 
leaving  Cleveland  for  Whitestown, 
where  he  was  to  deliver  an  address,  re 
duced  to  an  almost  empty  purse.  With 


The  PASSING  OF  KRISHNA  135 

full  faith,  however,  that  the  customary 
collection  would  give  him  the  needed 
funds  for  going  on  to  certain  friends 
in  Dunkirk,  he  had  proceeded  on  his 
journey. 

But  the  night  was  bad ;  the  Whites- 
town  people  stayed  at  home ;  there  had 
been  no  collection ;  and  the  prospects 
of  farther  travel,  or  even  of  a  night's 
lodging,  for  Titus  Fletcher,  were  ex 
ceedingly  dubious. 

Weakened  by  illness,  the  gaseous 
heat  of  the  stove  served  to  partly  be 
numb  his  faculties,  and,  instead  of  facing 
his  problem  in  a  conquering  spirit,  he 
forthwith  fell  asleep,  leaving  it  to  solve 
itself,  or  what  was  more  probable,  to 
prove  itself  insoluble. 

He  was  awakened  just  before  mid 
night  by  a  hand  on  his  shoulder,  and 
opening  his  eyes  he  recognized  in  the 


136  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

man  standing  over  him  the  ticket  agent 
of  whom  he  had  asked  a  few  questions 
earlier  in  the  evening. 

"  Come,  stranger,"  this  man  was  say 
ing,  "  move  on,  move  on.  We  shut  up 
here  at  midnight.  No  loungers  allowed 
here  after  this  time." 

The  man  was  heavily,  clumsily  built, 
with  a  red,  mottled  face,  a  thick  neck, 
and  a  ginger-colored  mustache.  His 
small,  greenish-gray  eyes  looking  out 
from  under  thick  eyebrows,  also  ginger- 
colored,  were  not  ill-natured,  but  simply 
inexpressive. 

Titus  Fletcher  looked  up  into  this 
face  with  his  gentle,  deprecating  smile. 
He  rose  and  bowed  with  grave  apology ; 
then  stood  uncertain,  with  a  mild  query 
in  his  hollow  eyes. 

"  Where  shall  I  go  next  ? "  he  mur 
mured. 


rhe  PASSING  OF  KRISHNA  137 

"  Yourself  s  the  best  judge,  parson," 
said  the  other,  laughing  shortly.  "I 
should  think  home,  now,  would  be  a 
good  sort  of  place,  allowin'  me  to  suj- 
jest,"  he  added  with  a  kind  of  patron 
izing  familiarity. 

"Home?"  repeated  Titus  Fletcher 
reflectively,  and  smiled  faintly.  "  Yes, 
that  would  be  rather  good,  wouldn't 
it  ?  "  and  he  looked  fixedly  beyond  the 
solid  flesh  before  him.  He  saw  at  that 
moment  a  low  grave  at  the  foot  of  a 
tamarind  tree,  with  smaller  graves  be 
side  it ;  an  empty  bungalow ;  dark  faces 
with  tearful  eyes,  and  swarthy  hands 
wrung  in  parting  sorrow,  and  he  almost 
seemed  to  catch  far  voices  calling, 
"  Come  back,  come  back." 

There  was,  after  all,  a  home  he  could 
claim,  though  far  away. 

"  My  friend,"  he  said,  with  a  sudden 


138  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

and  manifest  influx  of  firmness  and 
dignity,  "  you  are  not  to  think  meanly 
of  me  because  you  find  me  here  poor 
and  homeless  to-night.  A  greater  than 
either  of  us  had  not  where  to  lay  His 
head." 

The  ticket  agent  took  off  his  hat  with 
an  abrupt,  involuntary  movement. 

"That's  right,"  he  said. 

Then  he  added,  "  I  knew  you  was  a 
parson  the  minit  I  laid  eyes  on  you." 
Turning,  he  lifted  the  tin  box  from  the 
seat  and  with  some  delicacy  of  indirec 
tion,  asked,  il  Anywheres  you'd  like  to 
have  me  take  this  'ere  chest  ?  " 

A  sudden  thought  struck  Titus 
Fletcher.  He  acted  upon  it  with  prompt 
ness  born  of  the  emergency. 

"  Has  it  occurred  to  you,  my  friend," 
he  inquired,  looking  earnestly  at  the 
other,  "  to  invest  in  Oriental  curiosities  ? 


The  PASSING  OF  KRISHNA  139 

There  is  quite  a  fashion,  I  find,  in  this 
country  now  for  all  sorts  of  imported 


curios." 


"  Got  somethin'  to  sell  in  nere,  have 
you  ? "  asked  the  man  with  evident 
curiosity.  "No  harm  in  lookin',  stran 
ger?" 

In  a  moment  the  tin  trunk  was 
opened,  and  once  more  Titus  Fletcher 
set  out  his  small  collection  of  heathen 
emblems  before  Christian  eyes.  , 

The  man  seized  at  once  upon  the 
green  jade  Krishna. 

"Swanny,  but  ain't  he  an  ugly 
chap  !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  Ain't  he  got 
the  all-firedest  smirk  you  ever  see  ? 
Say,  he  looks  as  if  he'd  wink  at  you,  if 
you  could  stand  it  to  look  at  his  im 
pudence  long  enough." 

"  That  image,  my  friend,"  said  Titus 
Fletcher,  "represents  the  god  of  a  large 


140  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

portion  of  the  human  race.  I  bought 
that  idol  at  Brindaban,  after  a  great 
festival,  during  which  it  had  been  wor 
shipped  by  over  a  hundred  thousand 
people." 

"I'll  be  blowed!"  cried  the  man, 
staring  in  amazement.  "  I've  heard  tell 
that  the  heathen  in  his  blindness  bows 
down  to  wooden-stone,  but  I  always 
took  it  that  it  would  be  life-size. 
Wouldn't  that  astonish  Eliza?" 

"Very  probably." 

"  How  much  d'you  ask  for  this  'ere 
one  ?  "  asked  the  agent  after  a  moment, 
during  which  he  had  looked  the  collec 
tion  over  with  the  half-slighting,  half- 
measuring  eye  of  the  possible  pur 
chaser,  and  had  returned  reluctantly  to 
the  green  Krishna.  "  I  wouldn't  give 
much  for  the  lot,  but  this  one  is  so 
darned  aggravatin'  ugly  that  I  should 


r he  PASSING  OF  KRISHNA  141 

kinder  like  to  set  it  up  on  the  mantel 
shelf  to  tease  Eliza." 

"  I  paid  twenty  rupees  for  that  idol," 
said  Titus  Fletcher,  patiently  adapting 
himself  to  his  new  role  of '  vendor  in 
stead  of  delineator  of  images,  "and  it  is 
almost  in  perfect  condition.  A  slight 
nick  here,"  and  he  pointed  consci 
entiously  to  Krishna's  left  knee,  "is, 
I  believe,  the  only  imperfection.  I 
would  part  with  that  interesting 
specimen  for  two  dollars  and  a  half," 
and  he  watched  the  other's  face  anx 
iously. 

"Well,  stranger,  you've  got  the  ad 
vantage  of  me,"  returned  the  agent. 
"  I  ain't  not  to  say  familiar  with  the 
market  price  of  idols.  It  ain't  my  line. 
They  seem  to  come  high,  seein'  how 
small  they  be.  Still  it  cost  somethin', 
I  suppose,  fetchin'  of  'em  over.  Say," 


142  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

with  a  shrewd  question  enlivening  his 
eyes,  "  you're  sure,  be  you,  that  this 
is  a  genuwine  heathen  idol?  Twan't 
made  down  in  Connecticut,  or  any 
wheres  in  the  neighborhood  of  Boston, 
was  it? " 

"My  friend,"  said  Titus  Fletcher 
simply,  "I  have  told  you  the  truth." 
The  man  nodded. 

"  I  believe  you.  You  look  as  if 
you'd  ben  in  heathen  lands,  and  as 
if  they'd  kinder  drawed  you  through 
a  knot-hole  in  the  bargain." 

Titus  Fletcher  checked  an  impulse 
to  defend  the  heathen,  seeing  it  in 
volved  a  reflection  upon  his  own  coun 
trymen. 

"  Here's  your  two  dollars  and  a  half," 
continued  the  agent,  putting  a  foot  on 
the  seat  and  counting  out  the  money 
on  his  broad  leg  thus  made  available. 


The  PASSING  OF  KRISHNA  143 

"  Two  dollars  and  a  half  of  good  clean 
money  for  that  dirty,  grinnin'  idol,  and 
I'm.  a  fool  to  pay  it,  and  Eliza'll  say  so. 
Never  mind  ;  yes,  take  it  parson,  you've 
come  honestly  by  it.  1  guess  it's  worth 
all  I'm  payin'.  What  did  you  say  its 
name  was  ? " 

"Krishna,"  was  the  reply.  But  as 
he  left  the  station  to  seek  lodging  in  a 
wayside  public  house  he  had  noticed,  a 
sudden  fear  seized  upon  Titus  Fletcher, 
and  he  hastened  back  to  the  agent, 
whom  he  found  locking  the  waiting- 
room  door.  Turning,  the  man  saw 
through  the  falling  rain  the  gaunt  face 
towering  over  him,  full  of  anxious 
questioning. 

"  What's  to  pay,  now,  parson  ? "  he 
asked.  "  I  shan't  buy  no  more  idols 
to-night." 

"My   friend,"   said   Titus    Fletcher 


144  The  LirrLE  GREEN  GOD 

solemnly,  "  I  must  satisfy  myself  on 
one  point,  or  we  must  cancel  the  sale, 
and  I  will  take  back  the  Krishna  even 
though  I  should  walk  the  streets  till 
morning." 

"  Go  on  ;  I  guess  if  I'm  satisfied  you'd 
ought  to  be." 

"  Do  you  think,"  proceeded  the  mis 
sionary,  "  that  there  is  any  danger  that 
in  the  process  of  time  you  might  come 
to  worship  this  graven  image,  you,  or 
your  wife,  or  your  children,  or  your 
servants,  or  the  stranger  within  your 
gates  ? " 

"Worship  that  fool,  Krishna?"  and 
the  agent,  bracing  his  hands  upon  his 
substantial  sides,  burst  into  uncon 
trolled  laughter.  "He  ain't  such  a 
ravin',  tearin'  beauty  as  that  comes  to, 
parson,  and  don't  you  forget  it." 

"  Hindu  idols  are  worshipped,  how- 


The  PASSING  OF  KRISHNA  145 

ever,  in  some  parts  of  this  country,  I 
have  found  to  my  surprise.  Pardon 
the  needless  question,"  and  the  tall  fig 
ure  of  the  missionary  vanished  in  the 
blackness  of  the  dim,  narrow  street. 

In  a  letter  to  that  daughter  Ger 
trude,  whom  he  was  supporting  in  a 
New  England  boarding  school,  Titus 
Fletcher  wrote  a  month  later: 

"  I  have  engaged  second  cabin  pas 
sage  on  the  steamer  for  Genoa,  sailing 
January  1st.  The  Society  agrees  to 
send  me  back  to  Haidarabad  on  half- 
pay.  I  discovered  during  my  Western 
trip  that  my  home  is,  after  all,  in  India. 
My  people  there  love  me,  and  not  one 
of  them  but  would  share  his  last  hand 
ful  of  rice  with  me.  Life  seems  sim 
pler  there,  gentler,  if  I  may  say  so  not 
ungently.  Choosing  between  them, 


146  The  LITTLE  GREEN  GOD 

the  perils  by  the  heathen  seem  less  to 
me  now  than  the  perils  by  mine  own 
countrymen.  If  I  should  be  embarking 
on  a  longer  journey  to  a  better  coun 
try,  and  the  sea  should  be  my  grave,  it 
would  be  a  kindly  one,  and  you  may 
give  God  thanks  for  me." 

Which  was  to  say,  although  happily 
the  daughter  did  not  perceive  it,  that 
the  heart  of  Titus  Fletcher,  missionary 
from  Haidarabad,  was  broken. 


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